32 The moment I saw it, I thought, how cliché

Part 1

? POV

When was it that everything went wrong?

Thinking back, it was probably around the time when she reached for that sword that the already unfriendly gazes she received became even more inhospitable. Following a certain call that she felt from the sword, the girl foolishly unsheathed it, bringing, as a result, a series of unfortunate incidents for her.

Born from a night when her mother was taken advantage of by one of the emperor's sons, she was made sure to remember that fact by her 'siblings'. Her mother had a humble status as a servant serving the Imperial family so she was never treated kindly by anyone except for a few exceptions. Her mother passed away in an accident when she was young, along with her 'father', an incident that was never made public. She managed to secure a living thanks to the kindness of the few individuals that treated her like a normal person. That said, she was still bullied and looked with disdain or apprehension, something that had to do with the fact that she was not a pure human, but mixed blood. Feared for the heritage that her mother had passed down to her, she was shunned and being looked like a dangerous creature.

…

Few hobbies were allowed for her, and among them, she had taken a liking to kendo, and she liked to combine it with dance movements after hearing about sword dances. However, she was never allowed to touch a real sword so she could only go through the most difficult approach if she ever wanted to wield one like the women she happened to see offering sword dances to the Shinto gods, and that was to make one herself.

…

Many failures were made and she lacked proper examples so she snuck into the place where the katanas and historical weapons were being stored.

You could say that it was her mistake; she could've probably looked for a better way to check a real sword. She had overcome the issue of the tools and workplace after many hardships, but she was getting impatient.

…

Once she set a foot in the storage, she felt a mysterious call from a particular sword, and her curiosity won so she reached for it. That day, she became the wielder of the Ame-no-Murakumo, and her bitter days only worsened.

…

The change that occurred due to her actions could be described simply. Many people who treated her as nothing more than an eyesore began to treat her 'kindly' with wide smiles on their faces. However, some did not change their ways, and for her, it was those people who she appreciated, regardless of being looked at in contempt or those few honest and kind people who helped her until the present times.

Nevertheless, the changes were not something that happened once.

Her living place was the first thing to be improved, they who pointed at her and said that she did not belong in that main building were the ones who 'warmly' welcomed her and took her to one of the fanciest bedrooms and told her to rest there from now on.

There were a couple of things that she enjoyed, and one of them was the improved meals, followed by the opportunity to get better tools and learning materials for creating swords. She was even able to get lessons from famous blacksmiths who took her as their disciple.

Unfortunately, from her point of view, being sent to an elite school to study was not to her liking. She would've liked to spend that time learning in the smithy than learning from some books about boring topics. However, she decided that was counterproductive to waste more time than necessary so she tried to do her best so she could finish earlier without wasting extra time in lessons for those with learning problems. That way, she could leave school early and practice more in the smithy.

Somehow she got accustomed to that daily life and she enjoyed it for the most part… until there were rumors about the next successor for the emperor.

…

The moment that such a rumor started to spread, it did not stop, and it caused a change in her relatively stable daily life.

She started to receive glares full of ill intent mixed with jealousy.

As expected, she was confused about the reason, until she heard that she was the prime candidate to succeed the throne given her status as the chosen one, the girl who the Ame-no-Murakumo blessed.

In a world where the supernatural existed, the superstition that some people had made many believe that the sword was said to choose the suitable person for the throne, and the one who will bring prosperity so they supported her. That was something that not everyone accepted, mainly those who were on the line of succession before her. Still, she decided to follow what everyone urged her to do, it was the least she could do.

…

Nevertheless, her 'siblings' had an image to maintain so they tried to not outwardly show it. However, their servants and those who favored them were not so tactful. Many times her safety was threatened, her life was put in peril by assailants or incidents, but thanks to her training in kendo she managed to repel them, although her absurd heritage might've had something to do with it as well.

Unfortunately, she could not prevail every time, and now, she-

MC's POV

The mansion had nothing useful other than expensive-looking books, I asked Suzaku-san to lend me some of the interesting-looking ones but she kindly gave me a ton of them. She explained that they wouldn't be of use to her given that they were to be disposed of thanks to being kept in a 'hideout' for dangerous people. They had already taken the dangerous ones to confirm whether they had some information related to the black-cloaked group and what was left were not objects of interest for the Himejimas. I gladly accepted it with open arms and pouch in hand.

Thank goodness that the weight cannot be felt in my hands because I emptied a small-scale library in there. Yasaka-san, how much space did you pack in my pouch? That kitsune overdid.

…

"Now what? Do her people have something useful? We wasted some time in there and we are empty-handed." Art commented.

I shrugged my shoulders in response, I was honestly rather impressed, no traces of people could be felt, it was like they erased anything that could point out that they were there. Even if someone erases their recent activities, there will always be something signaling that they were there, remnants of their life signatures.

"We have narrowed it the search areas, but I am afraid there is nothing much beyond that. We found a few hideouts, but they were empty." Suzaku-san said in a down-hearted tone.

Gently patting her back, I comforted her.

What a problem, what can be used to locate them?

"Do you have any disappearances cases that have remained unsolved until now? Cases of supernatural, huh, sort." I inquired.

"Anything like that has already been filtered and checked over multiple times." Suzaku-san responded.

"*tsk* Organizations are useless at times like these, it would be better to search by ourselves." Art said.

The red-eyed girl looked vexed at 'his' words, but she could not retort back.

"Did you check the area where your little sister was kidnapped?" I asked.

"I have done that, and before you ask, I made sure to check two times more after that. I could not sense them. The only clue I got was an eerie bird in the vicinity that I followed. It was thanks to it that I found that hideout, but things did not go well." Art explained in a bitter tone of voice.

So Art did that as expected, however, his words kind of bothered me.

"I think we first need to know how it exactly happened, some details are missing and that could be vital to find her." Suzaku-san suggested.

"It was my fault; I left her alone while I went out to get some food, but when I came back, she was nowhere to be found. After searching the area multiple times, I detected that eerie bird. I think you know the rest already." Art said in a concerned tone.

Suzaku-san and I shared a look.

"Let's go there again, given our circumstances, we have nothing better to do. If that does not work, we will start searching ourselves. Is that ok?" I asked.

I could see the two nodded at my words so our next destination was decided.

"I will have transportation prepared for us so give me a moment." Suzaku-san muttered and pulled out her phone before moving away and calling someone.

The silence after the red-eyed girl left was awkward so I spoke.

"Where was the place you were staying at?" I asked.

Maybe it was a hotel? No, the siblings appeared to be on the run so they would avoid legal and proper business.

"A middle school." Art replied.

Huh?

"Say what?" I asked after cleaning my ears.

How funny, I think I heard that they were staying in a middle school-

"We were staying in middle school, or to be more precise, the old school building no one used became our hiding place." Art replied.

His tone was as curt as before, but I don't think this strange person means anything bad by it. That said, I have no idea what to say about his reply.

"Our transport will pick us up in a minute so we should patiently wait for it to arrive." Suzaku-san said. "By the way, what kind of place are we going to? I don't think you mentioned that."

Directing her words to Art, Suzaku-san asked. Her tone had considerably softened since the time in the tent, perhaps her anger had subsided over time, or maybe this gentle girl felt some pity for Art's circumstances. Either way, I won't have to worry that they go for each other's throats when I am not looking.

"*sigh* Listen to me very well, I won't repeat it a fourth time, my little sister and I were staying at a local middle school." Art muttered in an exasperated tone.

Suzaku-san blinked in response, and she turned to look at me for confirmation. I just shrugged my shoulders at that.

"Eh?" Suzaku-san tilted her head in a confused manner.

I get you; I truly do, because I have no words to say either.

…

Thanks to the wealthy young miss, we arrived quickly at the surmised middle school. I had a hunch, but to think it was a middle school for girls. I found it awkward to put a foot inside, even after I hid my ears and tails, the stares were numerous. I can understand that Suzaku-san or Art would be eye-catching, one for her beauty and the other one for the strange outfit, but I somehow got more stares directed at me from the students. Some even tried to get close to talk to me but Suzaku-san's sweet smile (I would like to believe that from the bottom of my heart) scared them. That said, she did allow people to get close to Art and even ignored 'his' pleas for help while we went to talk with the responsible people of the school. Suzaku-san wanted to have a multitude of unknown people (her subordinates) enter the premises of the school so she wished to explain herself.

It was a short talk since she used a few terms and made some calls and we got the permission to act as we deemed fit.

I knew that Suzaku from the canon was a competent young lady, but it seems this version is pretty capable already despite her younger age. There was plenty of things I could learn from her, and I think I could widen the topic I could discuss with her. It was something I mentioned to Suzaku-san but she was delighted that we could talk some more.

…

With her subordinates spread all over the school area, a search for clues and hints about the black-cloaked people began. Suzaku-san, Art (who was able to join our party after fighting for his way out an avalanche of curious girls, or so 'he' described. I felt slight apologetic when I saw his beat-up appearance, in particular, when he resentfully told me that many of those girls were curious about me for some reason) and I formed a party and went directly to the place Art had been using as a hideout, the old school building.

"This is so cliché." I commented when I saw the building for the first time. "At times like this, there are usually seven mysteries in the school and the scariest ones are located in places like this one. Will a ghost pop out? How unscientific, a ghost, like those… existed? Huh?"

It was an old wooden building that had better years than this one. It probably had two floors at most, but it covered a large area, forming a rectangle in shape from what could be seen from an outside perspective.

"You of all people are saying that?" Art retorted in a flabbergasted manner.

Oh, right. I am a nekomata, a supernatural creature. Why wouldn't ghosts exist?

Suzaku-san did not say anything but the wry smile she directed at me told me her real thoughts.

"A small lapse in memory, don't sweat the small details." I shrugged my shoulders. "Let's get this started, shall we? Art, lead us to the last place you saw her, we will begin from there."

Nodding at my words, 'he' simply walked into the building. Suzaku- and I shared a look and followed after 'him'.

…

The sibling's sleeping chamber was a normal classroom, that different from other ones in the building lacked dusk covering it due to the long years of abandon, it was easy to guess due to the pair's constant use of the place.

Any regular person would find it ominous to come to this place given the darkness and lack of lighting over the whole building. Despite the time being close to noon, there were several areas where the visibility was low, and the incident when Suzaku-san tripped and fell right into my arms occurred. I had offered to give her a flashlight I had in my pouch but she did not see the need at the beginning, however, she obediently used it after I scolded her, neither Art nor I required such a thing, my case was simply because of my gifted eyesight, but Art did not even bother asking for a flashlight, probably because of that certain reason.

"I was going to get something for lunch and Alice sent me off from over there." Art pointed at a certain location.

So the little sister is called Alice huh, first time the tight-lipped 'guy' said her name.

A common classroom that had most of the chairs and table thrown out outside, except for a few ones used to put some books and old convenience store lunch boxes, water, and few personal belongings. Two mattresses that Art must've had dragged from the nurse office given the dragging marks 'he' left on the floor were tidily placed in one corner, but the place he indicated was one corner that had a desk and a chair near the window, few books were laying on the desk along with an old oil lamp.

Suzaku-san walked closer to the desk and took the book lying on it before she began to check its contents.

"Is this yours?" Suzaku-san asked.

Her question was directed at Art but 'he' only shook his head in response.

"There is nothing here; we should take a look somewhere else." Art curtly said before leaving the room.

Only the red-eyed girl and I remained in the room.

"Did I say something to make him angry?" Suzaku-san asked with a frown.

"It was merely a bad question to ask for several reasons." I muttered.

Suzaku-san looked confused, but I did not elaborate further. It was no place to explain anything more.

The smart girl caught something from my vague words, and did not ask anything else; she only left the place looking apologetic. In her mind, she probably found her words tactless given Art's situation, thinking that the one who likes to read is Alice.

Shaking my head at that silly girl, I walked to the table, took the book, and saved it in my pouch, repeating the same action with the rest of the sibling's belongings. I doubt they would be able to use this place again so I will do some service to my 'employer' and keep their stuff safe.

Nevertheless, as I grabbed another book, I thought about Art and Alice. The owner of these is Alice, after all, Art-

…

Aimlessly walking for hours, we found nothing useful so it was time to take a break.

Honestly, I could still work for a long time nonstop, but the stomach of two people did not agree with my way of doing things and demanded nourishment.

The shape of the building was sort of like a rectangle and in the middle of it, there was what I believe was a garden, but there were no more flowers, and while I expected to be covered in weeds, Art had cleaned it to plant some vegetables to eat.

In the middle of the garden, there was a medium-sized well, and next to it a large tree had grown. Probably the spot near the well provided a rich ground for it to grow. However, it seemed to be sick seeing that the trunk of the tree was all black and the leaves were kind of drying up.

I was interested in checking it but first, comes the food.

Taking some cloth out of my pouch, I put them on the floor for us to seat and began taking out whatever I had stored inside that I had prepared to eat.

…

"Is everything hand-made by you?" Suzaku-san asked while she grabbed a tuna sandwich.

"It is nothing fancy, but feel free to eat to your heart's content. Hunger only worsens our attitude, and given that we have not found a thing, we are a little disappointed and above all frustrated. Taking a rest and eating will help us to be able to re-start the search in a new mood." I opened a bento box filled with Kaarage and put it in front of Art who had been silently eating with a vicious appetite.

Since I offered 'him' food, he focused only on eating.

"Hehe, since you are offering, I will not hold back then. Hmm Boy, this is pretty good, not as good as Udon, but I could eat this for three meals a day." A voice I did not recognize said in a light-hearted tone. "Free food always tastes good, but I sense an incredible potential in these. Tomoe, why don't you try these too? Oh, these look nice as well."

Immediately, I raised my alertness to the max. I could not see the face, but from the voice and the feeling on my back, I could judge that the one who had suddenly appeared as a woman, no, the voice was from someone younger. However, the problem was not that, but the fact that I could not notice her presence before she spoke, and started to greedily take away my damn tuna sandwich.

Art had stood up and he formed a knife with that golden aura in his hand similar to the one 'he' used to point at my neck, Suzaku-san did not lag behind and on her left hand, there were Ofudas while on her right hand she had long needles. The last ones were new.s

"Musashi, look at what you did. You can't just show up out of nowhere like that". Another voice calmly reproached. "He probably meant those words to them, and you just jumped in."

Another individual whose presence I only noticed until she spoke, even if I am not maintaining my Ki spread all over the place to detect presences, how shameful to be put in this position. No matter how much the feeling on my back was not a bad one, I was still approached in such a sneaky manner. I don't feel any ill will, but if she had any… I would be a goner now.

"You are as stiff as always, you can't get a boyfriend like that. I just have to apologize, right?" The one behind me complained, I believe she was called Musashi.

"That has nothing to do with it though?" The other one, called Tomoe calmly retorted.

No, I turned my head and happened to catch sight of her and she looked embarrassed so she was probably trying to act composed.

Oh boy, what to do.

"If you two want to make a comedy sketch, do it by yourself. Unhand him, or I won't be so polite." Suzaku-san demanded in a low tone.

Art did not say a word, but 'his' stance did not relax one bit. While Suzaku-san kept her eyes on Musashi, Art had his knife pointed at the other figure, Tomoe.

"Oh my, how scary, I will not take him from you so relax." Musashi spoke in a nonchalant tone. "I am starving here so let me eat before doing that."

"My apologies, she means no harm. She is what you would call a free-spirited person so she often does things at her own pace." Tomoe apologized. "However, she is not lying when she says she is hungry, her way of doing things is wrong though."

To the words that were like an explication of the glutton who kept eating nonstop, Suzaku-san's hostility lowered somewhat after noticing their lack of any immediate actions, however, she did not relax her stance and directed a glare at Musashi, or rather at her other hand who was patting me.

Since she was not holding me, I slowly moved away from her. Changing positions, I was standing beside Art and Suzaku-san while Musashi and Tomoe were in the opposite direction, one sitting in a somewhat unladylike manner and the other with an exasperated expression.

"Awww, I wanted to pat him for a little longer." Musashi lamented in a sad tone of voice, however, it only lasted for a moment until she continued to fill her stomach.

I must admit that putting aside her stealth arrival, that girl is not a simple person, on so many levels.

With a complete visage, I was able to get a full view of the two.

The one called Musashi is a young girl around Suzaku-san's age; her uniform looked exactly like the middle school division from this school albeit a bit unkempt, she has silver hair with a slightly pinkish hue, a long side bang hung on the right side of her face while the rest of long her hair was being kept in place by a star-shaped hair accessory in a messy pulled out bun, with blue eyes, her height is around 160cm, maybe a bit more given that her sitting position makes it hard to confirm it. The other girl called Tomoe has the same uniform albeit tidy, she has silver hair tied in a high ponytail and red eyes, and her height is about the same as the sitting girl.

There is not much a can say about them besides that they look cute and they have an absurd stealth level, which reminds me of the way that Kaa-san and Yasaka-san would sneak behind me to scare the heck out of me when I was smaller.

"You can't just sneak behind him like that even if you want to pat his head, one of these days you will get in trouble. *sigh* My sincerest apologies, as you can see, she is like… that, so I would be thankful if you could overlook her actions this one time." Tomoe apologetically said.

"I don't mind that, it happens to me way too often to start minding it. Nonetheless, the patting isn't exactly the reason why we are alert, you see? Who might you be? I can't imagine what pair of young girls would be doing in this kind of place." I muttered.

You cannot miss a certain detail.

Despite being shown the supernatural ability to create a knife made of aura, or being pointed with needles and Ofudas, the two have remained composed the whole time.

"As far as I know, this place should be off-limits for students, and faculty members of the school have issued several warnings about staying away from here." Suzaku-san added after I spoke.

That makes their presence here stranger than before.

"That is-." Tomoe tried to explain but she stopped when the blue-eyed girl signaled her to.

"Let me handle this." Musashi stood up and faced us. "My name is Musashi, and this is Tomoe, and we are… The pair of THE BEAUTIFUL DETECTIVE MUSASHI AND HER SIDEKICK TOMOE! We are here with only one purpose, and that is to solve one of the seven mysteries of our school!"

To everyone's surprise, the girl who started to speak in a serious tone uttered such a thing with a smile on her face as she struck a pose.

"Pfffft." Tomoe almost laughed but she managed to cover her mouth with one hand.

Tomoe was probably not expecting that as she did not follow her friend's actions but instead covered her mouth to stop her laugh from leaking.

Suzaku-san looked speechless, and I could only imagine what kind of face Art was making. Nonetheless, I could not blame them; I was probably making the same face.

Like I imagined, that girl is not a simple person.

…

The serious mood was shattered thanks to the girl shyly covering her face.

"Why didn't you join in my introduction!? Now I look like a strange person." Musashi whined.

"It was embarrassing, and you never told me we would do that." Tomoe calmly retorted. "I believe that they would think the same way even you didn't do that, they only had to chat with you for a bit more."

"Is that how you usually see me!?" Musashi tearfully asked.

"…It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" Tomoe avoided looking at her friend in the eye.

With a gentle smile, she directed those words at us.

"OI! Don't ignore me, Tomoe!" Musashi whined.

Despite their bantering, they didn't look to be fighting but instead looked like their usual way to act around each other.

I am not sure how to force my way into their conversation though. Suzaku-san remained slightly vigilant beside me, rather close I must add, however, she looked less inclined to jump to fight Musashi and had a half-amused and half-serious face. Art got tired and continued to eat before anyone noticed, a glutton huh.

As they both noticed my eyes on them, they both gave me distinct replies.

"*cough* This is so she does not sneak behind you." Suzaku-san rightfully said although she avoided my eyes.

"What? You said I could eat as much as I wanted, right? You must use every opportunity you have to fill your stomach." Art muttered in a serious tone.

I felt like I would get a headache if I started to retort to everything around me so-

"Who wants some dessert?" I asked as I took a seat again.

There was a long silence and I could feel multiple glares gathered on me.

"There is enough for everyone, so feel free to ask without reservations." I shrugged my shoulders.

Everyone obediently took a seat and they had their eyes on me.

Whatever, I will fill my stomach first.

Part 3

? POV

Cold, those were the girl's first thoughts when she regained consciousness, then it came the feeling of her hands and legs being restrained by strong bindings, and the cold and hard feeling gave her an idea what these were shackles.

Like anyone would do, she tried to move but the shackles were held by chains. Even when she used her out-of-ordinary strength, she failed to make them budge; they seemed to be attached to the walls. Without the possibility to escape using brute force, she glanced around the vicinity, her location appeared to be some sort of cave, the rough and rocky texture on the wall gave her an idea; there was no natural light, and poor illumination came from a lit torch on the wall, and an iron door that was sealed shut.

…

It was difficult to tell how much time she had been captive given that she lacked any way to measure time, but it wouldn't have changed that much even if she knew; the ones who caught her never spoke a word to her, they only gave her the minimal amount of food and water while occasionally taking her to a place where strange symbols were carved on the walls, the location looked like a large hall and in the middle of it, a large stone lied, she couldn't guess what happened here, but the reddish hue covering gave her an idea, her first thoughts were that it was a sacrificial altar and she was going to be the next one, but it seemed that they had other plans for her. One man who had a black cloak, who she could identify thanks to his voice, called out someone who brought a large bucket full of water, and the man carefully pulled some out his sleeve and dropped it into the bucket. Instantly, the water turned murky black and started to boil; it brought her an ominous feeling so she tried to resist, but she could not muster any strength, in her famished state they put her by lowering her food they must have put something on her portions. It did not take long for her to be dragged near the bucket where another black-cloaked man had used the bucket's murky water to fill a cup. Moving her head left and right, she tried to resist but failed as someone had grabbed her head from behind.

"Drink."

A cold voice muttered that, and she was made to swallow that beverage, and then, she fainted.

…

Her memories after that were fuzzy, but when she woke up again, the number of shackles had been raised. She felt scared, and a part of her felt anger as well, but it was gone the moment she saw her hands, covered in dried blood. Once again, fear took over her mind, but she kept it in check. Whatever they wanted to make her, it would not work as long as she managed to get away.

There was a time she thought that way.

Shirone's POV

The white-haired girl tried to hide it from Nora by acting excited, but she was a little sad that they could not stroll together. She wanted to cheer up the boy who tried to act tough but was still saddened over his failure to find clues about his mother. Shirone who no longer had her mother with her could relate somewhat to him, and while he could find his mother while she lost hers, she did felt angry or considered unfair, although it would be a lie to say that she did not have those thoughts at some point. For her, she wanted to treasure what she had, over what she lost. Right now, she had Nora and Kuroka whom she loved very much, but she could not say it because they would tease her or act cheekily.

Many thoughts were on her little head, but the girl decided to think about it later. In her human form, she was lead by Nora's maid, Marion, to the gaming center. She was usually content with the game console that Nora brought her, and they both had gaming devices to play in cooperation or against each other, but now that he was not here, it was not that fun so playing in this gaming center would be fun. However, the girl had bigger ambitions for this outing, to determine if this girl was a bad person for Nora or not. You must not get confused by her shining eyes and the entranced gaze that she directed at the game-like machine, the crane. You must not think otherwise.

"Shirone-sama, would you like to play with that? I can help you reach the controls." Marion offered.

Shirone decided to give her some positive points for her offer, but her judgment was far from over so the white-haired girl will still keep an eye on Marion.

Nodding in response, Shirone gave her first step in a harsh day where she would decide the fate of Marion.

…

On her knees and with her two hands on the floor, Shirone bitterly lamented her 37th failure. Her face carried a disbelieving expression and she could hardly believe how things got to this point.

"Impossible... I-I lost, me, the luckiest of the three cats." Shirone muttered in a low tone of voice.

In front of her, the crane game kept making sounds that she had gotten used to, sounds that at the beginning were exciting but now they just made her feel defeated.

"Shirone-sama, would you mind if I gave it a try in your stead?" Marion gently offered.

The white-haired was at her witts end so she unconsciously nodded.

"Then, with your permission." Marion muttered in a determined tone as she stood in front of the controllers of the crane.

Replaying each of her actions in slow motion, Shirone could not understand how she failed. It had been a while since she was introduced to the world's of video games by Nora, and along with her big sister, the three played games together, while occasionally playing with Yasaka as well. Her skills had been polished to the point that her sister could hardly put up a fight, Yasaka was beaten swiftly, and Nora would sneakily reset the game if things got heated. Right now, she did not have her handheld game, but if she had it, she could boast about her high scores in different games, which is why she couldn't understand why she lost.

In less than a second, she heard an unfamiliar sound, it came from the crane game.

"I was not sure what to get you, but I thought it would be appropriated." Marion exclaimed.

Helping Shirone to stand up, she took a handkerchief out of her pocket and gently cleaned the catgirl's hands. Marion then put on the catgirl's hands, a key chain with the shape of a black cat.

"My apologies if this was not up to your expectations, however, if Shirone-sama asks for it, I will strive to get it." Marion pointed at the crane game.

Blinking in surprise, Shirone did not say a word; she just alternated her gaze between the keychain on her hand, the crane game, and Marion.

It was just a tiny bit, but Shirone got a better opinion of Marion. Nonetheless, the thing that changed the most in her mind was the understanding of one thing, and that was the attachment Nora had for maids. They were amazing people, Shirone could accept that.

"No, this is perfect." Shirone shook her head. "...Thanks."

"Shall we move onto the next game or would you like to give it a try again?" Marion asked.

Shirone felt some sense of defeat before, and she wanted to get her revenge, but she knew that it was not the time yet, her skills needed more polishing before attempting to play again. Instead, she turned her head to a series of machines lined up, a group of young men, who she thought had to be a lot older than Marion, were playing a certain game that picked her interest, a fighting game. Her loss at the crane game aside, she wanted to confirm if her skills were truly what she believed them to be.

"There." Shirone said as she strode to one empty machine.

"As you wish." Marion replied and then followed after her.

...

"I-It's impossible!"

"She had to be cheating."

"To think she beat the 4 Demon Kings of the game center... She is a monster."

"Little girls... They are not to be underestimated."

The group of young men lamented as they laid lifelessly in front of the fighting game machine.

"Weak." Shirone muttered in a bored tone of voice.

She had won too easily, there was no need to get serious, even Yasaka would be able to beat them without much trouble. For a group of guys who boasted about their skills while making fun of her before they started to play, they lost in a jiffy.

"The path of the strong is a lonely one." Shirone lamented. "Isn't there anyone who can beat me? A real challenge would be nice."

Shaking her head, Shirone's gaze was direct at a faraway place like she could see a mighty waiting for her in a hard-to-reach place.

Stopping her jokes, Shirone hastily covered her face in embarrassment. She tried to say something like Nora but the warm look that she received from Marion was more than she could handle. She always considered Nora the greatest, but she could only realize that even for his silly monologues were something that you needed to have a strong heart (being shameless) for.

"Fufu." Marion giggled at that.

Shirone had the urge to deduct points on her score, but she ultimately decided to ignore her laugh. She was aware that the maid did not do it with bad intentions, although that didn't make it less embarrassing.

Taking her hands off, she glanced behind her, but Shirone couldn't see anything strange. It had been for just a bit, yet... she was almost certain that someone was staring at her.

Her mind was about to consider it a mistake on her part but Marion's serious gaze directed at the same place as her was something she couldn't ignore.

"Shirone-sama, I suggest that we postpone the outing for today." Marion muttered.

It was somewhat excessive to leave so soon, but Shirone was bothered by that gaze too so she could only nod.

"Let us move using crowded streets." Marion suggested.

After that, Shirone heard her mutter in a low tone what she believed to be a magic spell. It was faint but a hard to notice shine covered her and Marion for a moment. It was just after the maid finished chanting and it brought interesting effects, the people around them stopped paying attention to their presence, it was almost like they were not there.

"This to confirm whether or not they had their eyes onto us for sticking like a sore thumb or..." Marion commented while she took Shirone's hand and led her outside.

...

Shirone and Marion keep walking using populated streets, going in circles but they found themselves being watched at every corner they turned, and it was not very subtle anymore. Despite Marion's spell, they were still targets of the stares so it was beyond obvious that they were the targets.

...

"It seems we were fooled." Marion bitterly muttered.

Keeping her breathing in check, Marion was using a back alley's corner to check for those people following them around, in one hand a magic circle apparently as she tried to hide their appearance again, using her other hand, she had Shirone at arms reach.

"I should've called him sooner." Shirone said as she fiddled with her phone.

Trying to call Nora, the phone could not connect the call for some reason. The phone had not signal so she could not communicate with him.

She was on her own now, it was scary but she was not going to let it get to her. Unfortunately, she hardly learned any spellcraft, other than turning into cat form and vice-versa. Nora only taught her one of his ultimate techniques, but it was a melee technique and Nora warned her that it is something you must only use if the situation is looking grim. He looked pained and sad when he told her that, and he added that if she loved him even a tiny bit, she must never use it on him. The white-haired girl never gave a positive reply but it was obvious that she wouldn't use it on him; after all, he was someone precious to her.

"Shirone-sama, it seems that they will arrive here in seconds, they are boldly walking this way and they got rid of normal people. We are the only ones here." Marion seriously explained. "I am not sure why they are after us, but it is not important. I will keep them here while you run, I am not sure how much time I can buy you but you must use it the best you can, find Murmur-sama."

It was something absurd and it made no sense.

"You want to become bait? Why?" Shirone inquired.

They were strangers, the time they had met had no been long and they couldn't be said to be that close even if she managed to hang around together. Nora was not here so Marion did not need to go this far.

"Hehe, such a young girl shouldn't worry about complicated stuff. I am a maid, and maids offer their loyalty to their Masters. Even if I was hired by Zekram-sama, I am Murmur-sama's maid, at least until he allows me to. I will fulfill my duties so I will not hesitate in doing anything in my power to do so." Marion said.

Shirone couldn't find any lies in her words, she who was able to tell when her sister lied about eating her cookies easily was not an amateur at that, her time in that facility made her witness the ugliness of some people.

"One, two... three people huh. Shirone-sama, on my mark, you must leave. I beg you; please escape to a safe place." Marion muttered.

Her earnest tone expressed many emotions, but her wish to help Shirone was honest.

The white-haired girl had a feeling that the young girl with the maid outfit did not plan to meet up with her later. Is she planning to sacrifice herself? Just like-

"Now!" Marion shouted.

Dashing out of their hiding spot at a speed difficult to believe, Marion created a magic circle on each hand. The maid closed her eyes and one of the magic circles created a flash of light, while the other shot a ball of fire.

Watching from the hiding spot, Shirone managed to catch sight of their pursuers. Wearing black cloaks and hoods, three people looked like they were up to no good.

"Why do we have to chase after the people who destroyed the familiar? I wanted to be part of the moment when we corrupt that wielder!"

One of the figures complained, and from the looks of it, Marion's attack had been avoided somehow.

"Every threat must be erased, we originally thought that it was the Himejima's who did it, but from the looks of it, we were wrong. It is a shame, but that strange group who has been giving us troubles lately is not responsible either. Two girls, it was just two girls who gave us trouble."

"Enough blabbering, if it wasn't because I brought the Sacrificial Dolls with me, we would all be suffering at the hands of her sneak attack. You guys were sent on this worthless errant because you have been converted recently, and I am stuck as your chaperone."

The apparent leader angrily spoke, and as the other two did, he dropped a straw doll that he had in his sleeve.

"There are two targets, we have one in front of us, the other one is a brat." The leader muttered. "Toshi, you go and look for the brat. Shin and I will take care of this one."

"*Tsk* Don't call me Toshi, now I am called Zephyr VI" Toshi complained.

"Shut up, Toshi!" The leader shouted.

Like a yelled dog, Toshi began to check the alleyways around Shirone, he was far from her but it would take him long to reach her.

Marion wanted to go after him, but the figures of the leader and the other individual stopped her in place.

"I would worry about myself if I were you, we are not easy targets." The leader exclaimed. " Shin, go that way and cover that area in case she wants to run, or maybe the brat tries to do it."

Blocking Marion from moving forward, he gestured to the other guy.

Shirone was not sure how good the spell Marion cast was going to work to hide her presence, but they had been finding them so far, it might give her a few minutes at most. In her hiding spot, there was nothing useful, no, there was that-

...

"This should be the last one, come out little girl, I have some candy here. Onii-san will give you some if you obediently come out." Toshi called out.

He had arrived at Shirone's alley and started to call her using dubious lines. Nora had warned her about people like him so she wouldn't approach him even in a normal situation, not to mention that Nora's sweets we better than anything else.

On the street, the sound of fighting could be heard, Marion should still be struggling all alone.

"Oh, come on. You have to be here so don't make this difficult for me and come out." Toshi spoke in a harsh tone.

Shirone shook in her hiding position but she remained there, he could not see her yet, meaning that she could use in her favor. Nora's constant blabbering and nonsense kept replaying on her head as she looked for something useful, but there was so much that it was taking a while. She was able to recall something just when she heard the steps of Toshi near her.

-Flashback Starts

Standing in front of her with a strict expression, Nora started to talk. Kasen who brought them to this location to train just stood calmly at one side, she looked at them with warm eyes.

"You are small, like really small. Cute and lovable, but small. In a regular fight, the difference in size could become an issue, and while you can somehow solve the problem the more your skills grow, you are as inexperienced you can be." Nora paused and patted her head. "However, it is not like you can do nothing at all. Youkais are stronger than humans regularly so you have more strength than a regular child. Your size, instead of a chain that drags you down, could become your trump card. Being underestimated is never a reason to get angry if your life is in danger you should welcome it. People who underestimate you, well, they will foolishly let down their guards."

Shirone obediently heard all that, but she was also playfully hitting Nora. Why does he have to call her small that much?

"I can teach you an awesome technique, my fighting style is not something that I think would suit such a good girl like you, however, you can use it whenever you need. Remember, use whatever you can. You are a Youkai, a cat, a smol girl. I am sure you can use that to your advantage, the question is how. Now, let me teach you something." Nora hugged her to stop her attacks.

She unwillingly hugged him back since she was helpless.

"Please, be aware that you must not reckless use this on innocent people or the world would be in danger, in a certain meaning at least." Nora muttered.

"What if they are bad guys? No, what if they try to hurt me?" Shirone inquired.

Unwillingly rubbing her face on Nora, the girl wondered if she had to hold back.

"In that case, hit them continuously, we can worry about the world later. Just keep doing it until they no longer bother you, ok?" Nora spoke in a serious tone.

"No, no, I have an idea what you want to teach her and I think it not good to do that." Kasen interrupted.

She who had been silently observing their exchange spoke in a hurry.

"There are times when you cannot do that." Nora refuted.

"What about a little self-restraint?" Kasen retorted.

"Along with common sense and shame, they did not come in my original package, you must call the manufacturer and they might send you the missing parts." Nora shrugged his shoulders.

-Flashback ends

Nora is silly.

Inwardly smiling at those memories, Shirone prepared herself.

"Is this where you choose to hide? It seems you were desperate, little girl." Toshi commented.

Grabbing the lit of the trash can, he threw it away and saw what was inside.

"Huh? A cat?" Toshi exclaimed.

The white cat, Shirone jumped with all she could and landed on Toshi's chest so she climbed a bit more until she was on his face, and she started to scratch it with all her strength as fast as she could.

"This damned cat! What's wrong with it!?" Toshi grunted.

Grabbing Shirone, he harshly threw her on the ground.

The catgirl felt like crying when hit the floor, it was painful and she wanted her sister to hugged her until it did not hurt anymore, but Kuroka and Nora went through even more painful things for her, how could she whine for something of this level?

Shakily standing up, she ran in Toshi's direction while chanting, and when he prepared to kick her way, she transformed into her human form. The other party was so surprised that his movements froze, and Shirone did not miss that chance.

"Forbidden technique: Civilization's End!" Shirone shouted full of spirit and hit Toshi's... crotch.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH." Toshi pitifully yelled.

Not stopping with one hit, Shirone hit the bad guy again.

"HAA! IYAA! SEEEI!" Shirone recalled spirited tells from anime and she imitated them. Somehow, it gave the feeling that she was doing more damage (she was not).

"Haaaaa, haaaaa." Shirone breathed with some difficulty so she stopped.

At some point, it had changed from punches to kicks, but she just continued as Nora told her to. He was not moving so it should be her win.

"I need to see how Marion is doing." Shirone muttered in a worried tone.

Just as she planned to peek outside the alley, a shadow came flying and it crashed in a nearby wall, on a closer look, it was Marion.

"Marion!" Shirone called out as she kneeled beside her.

Parts of her maid outfit were ripped off, and there was some blood staining her apron.

"Shirone-sama? My apologies... I could not buy enough time... *Cough* I am a... failure as a maid... please escape." Marion spoke in a fading voice.

Shirone did not know what to do, if her sister was here, she would be able to help everyone escape with her Youjutsu, or maybe fight those people. If Nora was here, he would fix Marion's state in a jiffy, fighting those people wouldn't even be a problem worth mentioning. However, they were not here and they were alone.

"As expected of people involved with the supernatural, she was a tricky opponent." The leader muttered. "As we predicted though, she was not part of the five great families."

Shirone could only see the leader walking her way, his face was visible but he looked like a normal middle-aged man, however, his eyes looked red-colored.

Biting her lips in frustration, Shirone used her hand to wipe off the tears that had been running down her face. She had not noticed when it happened, but it was not important. Using her tiny hands, she grabbed Marion and used all her strength to drag her.

"It is useless, your luck has run out. That woman was able to take out that fool, and you must've worked hard to beat that even bigger fool, but that's it." The leader shook his head in disagreement. "In your next life, do never get involved in what does not concern you."

The leader raised his arm and aimed it at Shirone, a reddish-black and ominous-looking magic circle appeared and some balls made of magic appeared. Black in color, they made Shirone want to run away. Her instincts were kicking in, but she won't leave the foolish maid who fought for her until she was not able to move.

"Shirone-sama... run..." Marion weakly muttered.

Shaking her head, Shirone hugged Marion and closed her eyes. In her next life, she hoped that she can be Kuroka's little sister again, and hope that she can meet Nora too.

"Die- Urgh! What is this?" The leader grunted.

Shirone could feel some breeze around her, but she was not sure that it was the reason why that man had stopped.

Raising her head, she what had happened.

Several threads were stopping him from moving, she could see them as they restrained any movements on his part, and there was a strangely strong gale forming a small-scale tornado around him. She was not sure what was happening, however, Shirone was thankful that her cat's lives were intact.

That wind was not normal, it had blown away those ominous balls and she could see when they crashed in a building nearby, causing a lot of damage. However, the threads were not normal either, despite the wind, they remained in place.

"My apologies for my late arrival, it was difficult to give this two the proper guidance when they are terrible with directions." A familiar voice spoke.

Turning her head around, Shirone saw someone she recognized, the woman was wearing a black kimono with white spider webs around the sleeves, and from those very same sleeves, threads several were hanging.

"Kuku, heroes always arrive late." A cheeky and cheery voice muttered.

Walking behind the kimono-clad woman, two young girls were following.

They had similar appearances, and they dressed similarly as well. The one who spoke looked outgoing and she had a slight smile on her face. With blue eyes and orange hair braided up, she had a lean figure. The other young girl had blue eyes and orange hair braided in three portions, and she had a curvy figure and she a taciturn look with half-closed eyes. They each wore a white, long-sleeved shirt, and a large black skirt with green wind-like designs reaching up from the bottom of the skirt, and they had a white layer below their skirts, although there was one thing that she was not sure of, Shirone was almost sure they had black feathered wings when she first saw them.

"Reminder. Our dear father sent us to give our full support to Shiki-sama, arriving late is against his wishes." The taciturn girl muttered.

For some reason Shirone felt some affinity with that girl, she looked like she did not speak that much so the cat girl wondered why.

"You are the lady from the Kimono store!" Shirone exclaimed.

"Yes, it is a little late, but the reinforcements sent by Yasaka-sama have arrived. Shirone-sama, there is nothing to worry about now that we are here." The kimono-clad woman reassured.

Sighing in relief, Shirone could finally relax a bit. She recalled that Nora once said, that the woman who cheerfully talks about Kimono designs was super strong so there should not be anything to worry about.

Author's Notes

My apologies, I got many issues these weeks, getting sick, my phone died ( I had part of the chapter there, then I transferred to my pc and got constants blackouts, fortunate my phone revived), anyways. Here is the chapter.

I added quite a bit of new character, you can guess the appearance of them easily with the descriptions I hope.

About the SS, after much deliberation and some trolls who kept some votes equal, or rather, combining the total amount of votes, I got quite the tie, so I will write at least 2 short stories.

Gimme me your feedback on the chapter, particularly the areas where Shirone appeared and the new characters made their debut.

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