"Xie Wen!!! You idiot! Die, meow-!!!"
Early that morning, Xie Wen was jolted awake by a piercing roar of fury.
But he had only just opened his eyes and had yet to figure out what was happening when something pitch-black pounced onto his face and began biting and scratching.
"What? What? What's going on?"
After taking several kitty punches and biting attacks, the bewildered Sapphire Star finally shook off his sleepiness...
It couldn't be helped. Last night, Suika Meow had used their departure from Totto Land and return to sea as an excuse to drag everyone into a banquet, and she had plied Xie Wen with quite a bit of alcohol. Although he hadn't drunk himself unconscious, his reactions were still somewhat slower than usual.
Xie Wen first tried to sit up, but as usual, the other cats pinned him down. All he could do was struggle to pull his hands free and lift the kitten off his face...
Then he grew even more confused.
Because this little black cat frantically flailing all four limbs and twisting her head to try to bite his hand wasn't any of the cats in the Research Commission.
"Seijūrō? No, he's long-haired, and he's bigger, too... wait! That bite strength... Ai?"
Finally, the familiar sensation of the little black cat biting his hand allowed Xie Wen to confirm her identity.
As for why he was so familiar with it...
Well, that was another sad story.
"Wait... did an octopus spray you? How did you end up looking just like Seijūrō... pfft, pfft, pfft..."
Looking at the pitch-black Little Kitten before him, Xie Wen couldn't hold back the schadenfreude bubbling up inside him and burst out laughing.
"Wasn't this your doing, meow?!"
(=◣皿◢=)
The newly appointed "little black cat" roared, baring her teeth and claws.