My Childhood Friend Meows Under My Skirt. (GL) - Chapter 4

As I moved a single finger, the white cat pounced.

The cats, hidden among the flowers, leaped at me from all directions. Had they been lurking in the flowerbed to mask their scent? I realized I had been lured in from the very beginning.

One by one, they clung to me, their reactions delayed. A dull thud struck my body as they piled on—thud, thud, thud.

Covered by the cats, my vision blurred. Struggling beneath their weight, I finally collapsed to the ground.

As I tried to shake them off, more cats joined in, their warmth suffocating me. Voices echoed from all around. Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow. My sense of direction wavered at an alarming speed.

With a momentary freedom, I shoved my arm into my pocket. I pulled out the two catnip balls I had saved and crushed them right there.

The powder burst forth, and the nearby cats inhaled sharply. I could feel their coordination falter as the weight of the cats pressing down on me began to lessen.

I struggled to break free from the mountain of cats. But another group quickly approached, climbing up from my feet. It felt as though I were trying to walk through deep snow; my legs felt heavy.

At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to get close to Maki. The time limit was approaching. What should I do? Think. No, move before you think. Take action.

If I couldn’t get closer, I’d have to draw them in from the other side.

“If you have three minutes, you should just run away!”

I shouted towards the white cat, trying not to let my voice be drowned out by the chorus of meows. The white cat stood still, glaring at me with suspicion.

“Why are you just standing there? You should hurry up and get away! You should hide so you won’t be found! I know why you can’t do that!”

Come on. Take the bait. Please.

“You still can’t move freely, can you? You can’t leave this hill because Maki is here!”

The white cat bared its teeth in a threatening manner. Come on.

“You’re still not free!”

It came.

By the time I realized it, the white cat was right in front of me.

Its movements were neither human nor feline.

Even the other cats were slow to react, stepping back a moment later to avoid getting in the way. Without a sound, before I could even move a finger, the white cat grabbed my clothes.

In the next instant, my body was lifted off the ground. I felt the centrifugal force as I was thrown. My vision spun. I couldn’t chase anything.

Before I could scream, I fell into the water. In a panic, I gulped down a mouthful and, as I righted myself, I expelled it.

Water dripped from my hair, soaking into my clothes. I finally understood that I had been blown away from the fountain, surrounded by its structure. Above me loomed the clock tower. I had less than a minute and a half left.

The white cat was approaching straight towards me, having decided to eliminate the noisy distraction I had become.

I removed the water gun from my body and plunged it into the fountain, refilling the tank. Bubbles lazily rose to the surface, absurdly slow. Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!

I filled the tank halfway and prepared. Just as I aimed the nozzle at the white cat, the sensation of holding the water gun vanished. It was flicked away with one hand.

As I took a step back, the white cat entered the fountain without hesitation. Even with its feet submerged in water, it showed no sign of concern and drew closer. What weapon do I have? Something I can fight back with.

“Ugh…”

I felt my clothes being grabbed at the collar. My feet, soaked in water, were completely lifted, and with a strength unimaginable from Maki, I was effortlessly hoisted up. I struggled, but it tightened its grip, making it hard to breathe.

“Just sleep like that.”

I saw the other paw of the cat form into a fist. Was it going to punch me? Where? I had to brace myself. Or was the fist a feint, and I would be slammed into the ground? Or would I be choked out like this—

“Nya!?”

In that moment, something leaped onto the white cat’s arm and bit down.

The startled white cat instinctively swung its arm. I was thrown out of the fountain and slammed against the leg of a bench.

As I got up, the cat that had bitten down landed on the nearby bench.

“Mimi-chan!”

A calico cat with differently colored ears. One of the few cats I had given a nickname.

Mimi-chan met my gaze for just a moment. As if confirming my safety, she immediately turned away and dashed towards the white cat.

“What the! Why are you getting in the way!”

She leaped onto the white cat, covering its face with her body. The white cat, now blinded, began to stagger. As it grabbed Mimi-chan and threw her aside, it collided with the edge of the fountain and fell.

I dashed forward; now it was my turn to charge.

I collided straight into the white cat, knocking it to the ground. The scenery spun around me repeatedly, and without losing momentum, we rolled down the slope of the hill.

I was kicked away by the white cat, my body flying apart. The impact was jarring, but the grass cushioned the blow. I stood up and focused on the fountain’s clock tower to stabilize my spinning vision. One minute left.

“Ugh.”

The white cat remained on all fours, perhaps still disoriented. There was no time left.

As I leaped at the white cat, she sensed my approach and began to thrash. I grabbed at her fur, her clothes, her tail—anything to avoid being thrown off.

I removed the cord with the magatama from around my neck.

This was my last chance.

“Come back!”

I pressed down with my weight to pin her.

Straddling her, I forcefully looped the cord around her neck. The moment my hands left the cord, I was kicked away again. I barely managed to keep my grip, preventing the cord from breaking. I did it. I got the magatama on the white cat. Four or five seconds left. I barely made it.

“Ugh, uuuuu…”

The white cat stood up, groaning. She knelt as if in pain. Her body began to glow with a pale blue light.

“Guuuuuuuuuu…”

The fur on her arms began to vanish. The cat-like hands transformed back into Maki’s own hands. It was working. It was really working.

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…”

Just stay still.

I gritted my teeth and prayed.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!”

A particularly loud scream erupted from the white cat.

And then—

The sound of shattering glass echoed.

The magatama split in two.