Rita slipped her phone into her pocket, crouched down... and picked Hiyamaru up in both arms.
"Someone sneaked near here last night, but he was too cautious. He only watched from afar outside and was extremely careful... I didn't catch him."
Hiyamaru seemed to enjoy Rita's embrace. She lay comfortably against Rita as she reported her discovery with a hint of seriousness.
"Oh~ Someone came by? Looks like the fish has taken the bait."
As she stroked Hiyamaru's fur with one hand, a flicker of anticipation passed through Rita's beautiful wine-red eyes.
"Hiyamaru... if they come again, don't alert them. Just let them in." Rita set Hiyamaru back on the ground, raised a finger to her lips, and smiled faintly.
"Understood."
Most of the time, twenty minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Once she felt the time was about right... Rita went to Shiina Mashiro's room again.
Another ten or so minutes passed after she helped Shiro put on her school uniform.
Holding Shiro's hand while she was still not fully awake, Rita led her downstairs and into the washroom. She had Shiina Mashiro stand before the mirror and handed her a cup filled with water. Shiro picked up her toothbrush with her little hand, wet it, then stood drowsily before the large mirror in the washroom, brushing her gleaming white teeth up and down.
"Sit down!"
After she finished brushing her teeth, Rita pressed Shiro onto a small stool in the washroom, adjusted the water temperature, fetched some shampoo, and began washing Shiro's hair.
Warm water poured over her golden hair. Shiro narrowed her eyes like a cat, enjoying herself, though Rita felt as if she were bathing a golden Persian cat.
Once she was finally more or less clean, Rita brought her to the living