Kitty Killer Isn't So Cold

"An Armored Huntsman is currently at the rear of our convoy, and the one who ordered that major to blast us into the air was the governor himself. Thanks to whatever unknown mission that Stanfield agent botched, the Raisington City bombing will be on every newspaper and radio broadcast across Columbia tomorrow, with the Red Party making sure everyone hears about it.

"Perhaps I should remind you that the next state election is less than five months away, right in the middle of campaign speeches. Do I need to describe what Governor looks like, wearing pajamas and spraying spit all over National Guard headquarters?"

Faced with the lieutenant's increasingly pressing questions, the deputy director could only awkwardly wipe away his sweat with a handkerchief. And now, the spectators were not limited to the police and National Guard... With the roads blocked and everyone ordered to stay home, the residents of the apartment building were pressed against their windows, watching the farce below and wondering what would happen next.

As the man in the beige suit at the end of the street finished receiving treatment, he still wore a smile, but his rough shove of the medical personnel aside and subsequent summons to the CASA armed forces seemed to make the deputy director finally reach a decision. He turned back to face the aggressive soldier before him.

"Fine, Lieutenant. I will share the case files with you so you have something to report to the governor... But in return, you cannot take Agent Stanfield away. He still has an important mission to carry out. Besides, I believe you will soon receive a request from Dr. Williams..."

The moment the deputy director finished speaking, the lieutenant's Terminal emitted the monotonous beeping unique to military equipment. When the lieutenant returned shortly after leaving, the faint tension between the two had vanished.

Their conversation then delved into the details, and the two men below gradually shifted into a private discussion.

Seeing that there was no more excitement to watch, the apartment residents lost interest and went back inside... Though they likely would not be sleeping tonight. Soon after the CASA squad left under Stanfield's lead, fully armed soldiers replaced the police who had mainly been setting up barricades and began knocking on doors one by one.

"Ma'am! Show us your identification. We also need to search your home... Do you know the Bruce family on the fifth floor, and their neighbor... a black-haired Feline said to work at the National Laboratory?"

As he questioned her roughly, the National Guard member glanced at the Feline before him... Black hair, not particularly tall... She somewhat resembled one of the targets described by the CASA agents, but her identification said she was a physician, not a laboratory employee.

Her clothing did not match either. The fugitive was supposedly wearing a suit, while this lady wore luxurious lace pajamas... Most importantly, she was nothing like the target's allegedly "calm" demeanor. This Feline's emotions were practically written all over her face.

"Of course I know them! Who in this building doesn't know their neighbors... Bruce is an annoying bastard, but his wife is pretty and memorable. As for his neighbor, though, she barely has any presence. Whenever I see her, she's either going to work or on her way to work..."

As she spoke, the black-haired Feline opened a pack of cigarettes, took one between her fingers without lighting it, then slipped the entire pack into the soldier's pocket.

"And soldier, search all you want, but don't touch anything you shouldn't. If you scare my daughter or mess up my room, I'll make sure you learn just how far this medical broadcast reaches... It can broadcast news just like the governor's newspapers, right?"

With that, the black-haired Feline curled her lip and stuffed three coins into the soldier's hand.

The squad leader glanced at the denomination of the Gold Yuan under the light and immediately tucked them into his jacket. He then took a cigarette from his pocket, put it between his lips, and handed the remaining pack to the comrades behind him.

"You heard her. Take it easy... And ma'am, please wake your child and husband. We're only searching for suspects. Nothing else."

As he spoke, he watched his teammates carefully inspect the bathroom, kitchen, cabinets, and even beneath the beds—anywhere someone might hide—while he wandered about idly.

He first stood behind one of his subordinates and glanced into the wardrobe, the most obvious hiding place. Seeing only clothes suited for wilderness activities, a white lab coat, a ladder, and a toolbox, his attention was soon drawn to the neatly folded underwear in the drawers below.

But once the drawer was shut, the squad leader lost interest in the search. Bored, a soldier touched the carefully tended potted plant on the table, then turned his attention to an ashtray that clearly had never been used.

Remembering that he had a pack of cigarettes, the soldier took out a match. After lighting his own cigarette, he cupped the flame and offered it to the lady, who looked especially vivid in its glow. She slapped his hand away with a look of disgust.

"I only chew tobacco... Besides, you've got some nerve offering cigarettes to a doctor who uses scalpels. What if I get addicted and cut off something extra during surgery?"

"Ha... You're quite the jokester..."

The soldiers searched the room at the end of the fourth-floor corridor near the emergency stairs. When they saw the black-haired lady's daughter—a green-eyed Feline girl with equally glossy black hair—they relaxed considerably. Then the lady's "husband," a black-haired Durin, appeared, and the squad leader was even in the mood to joke.

"Your husband... Ah, I don't mean to question your preferences, but I heard Feline-Durin children are born with congenital defects... Your daughter's height, though... seems quite normal..."

"Of course... He isn't my husband. He's just my lover..."

Rolling her eyes at the soldier, the "lady" angrily waved them away.

"You're done checking, so leave already. What rotten luck tonight. I finally got some time off and invited someone over for the night, only to have explosions over my head and then get interrogated by you people..."

"That does sound like an undeserved disaster~"

As he spoke, he questioned his subordinates with his eyes. Once everyone shook their heads, the soldier promptly said goodbye... His squad still had an entire floor to search.

When the door closed, the black-haired Feline's previously impatient expression returned to normal.

She swiftly fastened the chain lock. Listening to the noise outside, Nana gave the people behind her an OK gesture.

"Good work. We're in the clear for now..."

With that calm statement, the girl first reached out and touched her "daughter's" black hair... Matilda's hair color, altered by Originium Arts, returned to normal.

As for the "Durin," he removed his wig. Colt took the wet wipes Nana handed him and began wiping off his makeup, vigorously shaking the cat ears that had been flattened back into airplane ears and had not dared move for ages.

As for his twin brother Kevin, he had to wait for Nana to take the suitcase down from atop the wardrobe and open it before he could crawl out.

The first thing the three reunited siblings did after seeing daylight again was gather around the master bedroom wardrobe and start feeling around it.

Earlier, amid the smoke, the three children had only heard Nana tell Matilda to "hold on tight."

They had felt the world spin, then found themselves next door. Even with the slight vision Felines possessed in darkness, the siblings had only seen Nana holding the potted plant and pressing some sort of switch while they hid in the wardrobe...

The explosion left the sharp-eared little cats unable to process what had happened for quite some time. They had merely followed Nana's instructions, climbing down the ladder linked to the wardrobe to reach the fourth floor. Then, with Nana's Arts and makeup, they had all become entirely different people... The unlucky one at the back of the line had been shoved straight into a suitcase because Nana said she did not have time to apply makeup to so many people.

"So... what exactly happened?"

Only Kevin Bruce, who had spent half the night contemplating life inside the suitcase, could ask that question. His words reminded his brother and sister, and the three of them soon wore those suspicious expressions again.

Faced with the children's united question, Nana first turned off the lights and walked to the window, letting the alternating red and blue police lights flicker across her green contact lenses... The killer, whose expression had returned to its original state, slowly told the children the truth: their family had already been torn apart.

"...Dad... is dead?"

"Andy did technically die of illness, considering his Oripathy had already reached an advanced stage... But the real concern now is Kate and Cole, who never came back. I am worried about what your mother and sister may be facing."

Seeing Matilda fall into the same dazed state as before, Nana sadly stroked the girl's head.

Just as the youngest sister, at a complete loss, seemed to seize Nana's pajamas like a lifeline and refused to let go, the silent brothers beside her asked:

"Do you have any basis for saying that? Ah, we aren't doubting you..."

"Compared with the police who opened fire on our house, you're far more trustworthy. You protected us and fought those bad people... And there's probably nothing in our home worth coveting anyway..."

"Mom said you worked somewhere very impressive, but what you're saying... is just too hard to believe..."

"Why are we the ones who had to run into something so unreasonable..."

Speaking in turns with difficulty, the twins sadly clasped each other's hands. In Nana's eyes, although they appeared better than Matilda, who was completely frozen and unable to react, they seemed only to have retained a little more ability to speak.

After experiencing a gunfight, an explosion, and a National Guard search—things ordinary people would never encounter in their lives—they still could not... or perhaps did not want to believe Nana's words.

The twins could barely accept that their father had died of illness. But their healthy mother and sister being abducted by the laboratory and thrown into the kind of evil experiments only seen in cartoons... They simply could not accept it.

Having lost the guidance of their parents and not knowing what to do next was the main reason the three children had fallen into a daze.

Even the police and military were on the other side. Learning that their home had suddenly become the enemy of the entire city... anyone would have been at a loss.

Nana could only awkwardly stroke the three children's heads, hoping the physical contact would ease their stress response.

But even such crude comfort could not last. Nana still had a task she had set for herself.

"...It doesn't matter whether you believe me or not. I have no purpose in helping you. I am only doing this for my own peace of mind... Mrs. Cole is my friend. I cannot watch Cole die like this. Kate was the first child in this neighborhood, besides Mrs. Jackson, to smile at me. And I watched all of you grow up..."

When Nana set Matilda down and prepared to stand, the twins exchanged a glance. Still holding hands, they asked Nana together:

""We need to confirm the situation.""

"...I was about to do that... Your mother and sister have been out of contact at Loken Water Tank Laboratory for nearly eighteen hours. My companion believes they are most likely dead, because the mastermind has spent many years preparing for his plan. Now that he has found you, he surely will not delay... There is little time. Once I know you are safe, I will go to the laboratory..."

The two little white cats tilted their heads in unison to look at the clock on the wall, then spoke in perfect synchronization, as though they were one person.

""Are you planning to leave us here?""

"Of course not... Though we fooled them earlier, and CASA seems to have been led astray into searching the city, the military is still going door to door. Once people's statements are submitted, analysts will quickly see through our disguises... Makeup can fool strangers, but it cannot fool neighbors. Once the military learns this room is normally unused, there will be nothing to hide when they come searching again."

""...So you are going to send us away...""

Nana nodded, then looked at the twins, who had exchanged another glance, and frowned slightly.

"You... don't tell me you don't want to leave..."

""That is not it. But we still cannot confirm whether you are truly a good person... There remains the possibility that you are a competitor of the laboratory.""

""For example, perhaps you approached us only to sabotage the laboratory's plans... Of course, if that were true, there would be no reason for Mom and our sister not to call us all night... But even so, taking a step back, Mom said you were a good person, yet the way you deceived those soldiers proves that not every word you say to us must be true. We think we need to... confirm the situation ourselves.""

"You? How are you going to confirm it? I do not have the conditions to slowly gather evidence and prove my claims to you right now..."

""Actually, you do.""

As they spoke, the twins blinked at each other. Like two sides of a mirror, they simultaneously raised their hands and swiftly made a long series of identical hand signs representing numbers, fast and synchronized but without any rhythm.

""We do not know whether this is Originium Arts... But no matter how far apart we are, we can clearly sense each other's presence, as well as what the other sees and hears...""

Seeing Nana's deeply furrowed brow, the twins reluctantly but firmly let go of each other's hands.

""That way, one of us can protect our sister while the other confirms our mother and sister's situation... Then it will be obvious whether you or the laboratory is the real villain.""

As he spoke, Colt, the older brother, stepped forward.

"The police and laboratory are working together, right... In that case, if I turn myself in, I can go where Mom and our sister are. For you, that would lighten your burden, while also being the fastest way to learn about Mom and our sister's circumstances and identify the laboratory area where they are being held... As you said, there is little time to confirm their situation."

The boys had made their decision.

To save their mother and sister, and also so that one of them, with a body as weak as a Durin's, could protect their youngest sister, the two who had always been as one decided to separate.

It was to uncover the truth.

It was also so that at least one of them could survive.

The boys believed they would soon understand what had happened... Whether it was as the "stranger" beside them said, or whether the world truly could contain such unreasonable misfortune.

They only needed to take one step forward—

Then they would know.

PS: This chapter has been revised for smoother reading, but it still feels a little tangled... Please remember to refresh.

PS2: I originally wanted to explain a little about the upcoming plot... But then I thought it would ruin the anticipation, so I deleted it.

Without an explanation, I feel people will not understand. Then again, even with one, they might not understand... In the end, as the author, I have to accept everyone's feelings.

PS3: Then all I can do is hope everyone accepts the author's feelings too... Votes, votes, votes—please give me something to eat.

Rosemary's Embrace: 012 Trustworthy?

[Number Seventy-Seven, children with mental Originium Arts—or rather, children who awakened this kind of Originium Arts prematurely for various reasons—often have one psychological flaw or another because of their abilities...]

[But even so... Even considering their telepathy... Even treating the two as one person when they cooperate, I still cannot understand... Why did they reach the conclusion that one brother absolutely had to be sacrificed to verify this so-called truth?]

[Life should naturally seek out a way forward, yet they insist on walking a path of self-destruction.]

Nana did not respond to her agent's lament in any way. She did not even answer the boy's searching gaze.

Miss Killer calmly removed her pajamas. The flashing red and blue lights outside barely outlined Nana's slender waist beneath her bodysuit. Having received no answer, Colt was glaring hard when his little sister finally caught on and puffed out her cheeks as she covered his eyes... Seeing his sister and brother begin interacting, Kevin skillfully covered his mouth, retreated three steps, then continued blushing as he stared at the neighbor's girl next door, who seemed untouched by time despite being around his age.

"E-E-E-E-Eyes! Mia, what are you doing? That hurts... (getting quieter)"

"What are you staring at with your eyes wide open? Haven't you noticed?! [(baring her teeth, whispering)]"

"She took it off herself. What does that have to do with me... And Kevin is looking too."

Kevin complained in the same hushed voice, but when the youngest little cat turned her head and stared at him with the ferocity of a hunter, he reluctantly moved his hands from his mouth to his eyes... Colt did not mention that there was a gap between Kevin's fingers, because he wanted to keep watching too.

As Nana, as usual, took out a neat shirt and prepared to change into the physician's uniform matching her backup identity, Matilda approached the "girl" in place of her eye-rubbing brother.

"Big Sister Nana, are you really a salesperson?"

"Yes."

"...Actually, you're a killer, right? Like in cartoons, the kind who takes money to do jobs?"

"You are not paying me to save you."

"But we have money... I know where Dad keeps that Originium Prime."

"Mia—! (very quietly)"

Ignoring her brothers' hesitant warnings, Matilda stared at Nana, who only looked at her upon hearing the word money.

"I want to hire you to save Mom and my sister..."

"...You do not need to pay me. Once I am ready, I will go."

"But... my brothers are worried, so... we need a 'contract.'"

Matilda's words made Nana pause briefly. The killer then continued threading her tail through the hole in her skirt's waistband. After smoothing the tail fur, which seemed to have a mind of its own and had been especially restless lately, Nana pulled up the zipper at her side and tucked her shirt neatly into her skirt.

"...'Nana' has already fulfilled her contract with you. The killer has already begun acting. There is no need to sign another contract."

"So you really are a killer..."

"That sounds awful. Even if you refuse to use the professional term 'salesperson,' I hope you can at least call me a 'Cleaner.'"

Looking at the black-haired Feline before them, who seemed like an entirely different person, the previously silent twins once again pulled their sister back two steps, one on each side.

"So who exactly are you?"

"Are you really Big Sister Nana?"

"Perhaps... I can be."

Using Originium Arts, Nana tugged at the tips of her newly shoulder-length hair and cat ears, giving her fur a slightly tawny tint to complete her disguise. Finally, she put on a wide headband bearing a cross-shaped medical identification symbol and dark blue medical gloves to conceal the bodysuit over her hands. Nana looked at "Physician Nana" in the full-length mirror and nodded.

"There are canned instant meals in the refrigerator, along with shelf-stable convenience food in the kitchen cabinets. Pick out clothes you like from the wardrobe and change... In about half an hour, I will take you away."