Cat ears will sprout.
This is from Toriumi’s perspective.
The timeline is between Chapters 158 and 159.
Cat ears will sprout.
Please be aware that this may affect your image of the characters.
“They sprouted.”
Cat ears had sprouted on Maito-san.
…Wow.
“Are they real?”
“Don’t pull, it hurts!”
When Hagasaki-kun pulled on the cat ears that had sprouted on Maito-san’s head, she winced in pain.
Those must be real, then.
“Did a tail sprout too?”
“It did.”
I couldn’t verify the tail since it would be under her skirt, but it seems a tail had sprouted too. Well, usually, if ears sprout, a tail does too.
“…Is the cause, that?”
“It must be.”
The thing that turned into smoke, resembling a cat.
Um, before we returned from this world, we decided to enjoy this world a bit, so we’ve been playing around for the past few days.
As part of that, we found a beautiful highland, so we decided to have lunch there because why not!
And while we were eating.
“Meow.”
“There are cats in this world too, huh.”
A cat came up to Maito-san’s feet… but, I mean, normal cats don’t have wings, do they?
“…No, that’s definitely some kind of monster or something.”
“Should we take it down?” Hagasaki-kun readied his staff, but the cat (?) started to bristle and hiss at us. Oh, scary, scary.
“No, but it doesn’t seem to intend to harm us… Maybe we should let it go.”
By that time, the cat (?) had already curled up on Maito-san’s lap.
Seeing that, even Hagasaki-kun didn’t say anything, and we decided to leave the cat (?) be.
…But, when it was time to leave, the cat wouldn’t leave.
“There, there, there, there. Come on, off you go.”
“Meow!”
So Maito-san had to pry it off somewhat forcibly, but at that moment… the cat (?)…
“Meow!”
…I thought it just meowed… and then, the next moment, there was a “poof,” and it turned into smoke.
…And by the time the smoke cleared, Maito-san had sprouted ears.
And thus ensued a whirlwind of laughter.
Maito-san looked at herself in a mirror, touched them, and panicked on her own.
Man, did we laugh.
“So, what do we do about this?”
Hagasaki-kun seemed to like Maito-san’s cat ears and kept touching them.
…Maito-san is about to cry. Poor thing! Someone stop him!
“Maito-san, have you tried ‘cleaning’ them?”
“Well, it’s like, I recognize these ears as a part of me… It doesn’t work.”
Wouldn’t it be dangerous to try to remove something like that? What if Maito-san disappears along with them?
It seems like nerves are connected too, so if we remove them carelessly, wouldn’t that cause serious trouble?
“…For now, should we try to catch that cat-like thing again?”
“If we ‘appraise’ that cat-like thing, we might find out something!”
So, we had no choice but to search the area.
“…I hear a cat’s voice from over there.”
…Somehow, it seems Maito-san’s hearing has improved since she grew cat ears.
We decided to follow the direction Maito-san suggested.
When we got there, there were a lot of those cat-like creatures. Hmm, is this their gathering spot? Hmm.
But really, there were so many.
Barely any room to step.
“Fssshh!”
“Ah, I stepped on a cat.”
So, it’s understandable that Hariu accidentally stepped on one.
The cat he stepped on hissed, and the next moment, there was a “poof,” and it turned into smoke, setting off a chain reaction where all the cats present turned into smoke.
I was walking slowly to keep pace with Maito-san, who was just on the edge of being caught up in it.
“Cough… Is everyone okay?”
“I’m fine… no, not at all. I’m not fine at all.”
I understood why President suddenly sped up his speech.
When the smoke cleared, we all had grown cat ears.
The laughter that didn’t erupt.
Turns out, misfortune is funny only when it’s someone else’s, not your own.
…Hmm, what to do.
This benefits no one, right? We need to revert back quickly.
“…However, it’s getting dark now. It’s troublesome to encounter uniques around here. Let’s call off the search for today.”
Suzumoto’s opinion seemed reasonable, but that means we have to spend the night with ears and tails… Hmm, I don’t like it, but there’s no choice.
“For now, we… might just have to leave this be for a day.”
Since President seemed to have given up, there was no point in arguing.
“You all actually look good with cat ears, th… pffhahahaha!”
Maito-san started laughing at us, but she’s got ears too.
After all, it’s the pot calling the kettle black.
“Shut up.”
Angry Hagasaki-kun tried to pull on Maito-san’s cat ears, but he’s got cat ears too.
So, it’s not intimidating at all. Ah, now it’s funny.
“Let’s just have dinner. Staying like this isn’t going to solve anything.”
Maito-san, giggling, started preparing dinner by setting up the classroom.
Wonder what’s for dinner today.
“…What do we do about this…?”
Kadomi-kun seemed restless, fidgeting around.
“Status recovery medicine didn’t work.”
President had already tried medicine. Quick!
But since it didn’t work, it means we don’t have any options right now.
Hmm… for now, we just have to stay like this for today, I guess…
Dinner was grilled fish.
Hmm, did they choose something cat-like for dinner? No? Different?
Then, when it was time to sleep, we ran into trouble.
“My tail! My ears! They’re in the way aaaah!”
Lying on my back made my tail uncomfortable, and turning on my side made my ears uncomfortable.
“I, who sleep on my stomach, am the winner here.”
Kariya lay face down, wagging his tail. I’m envious.
What should I do? I’m a back sleeper.
“…Curling up feels nice?”
Kadomi-kun curled up like “It’s an earthquake! Hide under the desk!” on his stomach.
Ah, if that works for sleeping, that’s good. But he probably can’t slee… he’s sleeping, huh…?
“…How does Maito manage to sleep?”
It seemed to have caught his interest, and Hagasaki-kun went outside.
…After a while, he came back.
“She’s already asleep.”
“How? Hey, how did she do it?”
“Sort of leaning against the Ketorami diagonally.”
Ah, I see, sleeping with the Ketorami must be fluffy, so maybe it’s not that big of a deal.
That’s nice.
“…Guess I’ll give up and go to sleep.”
“Let’s do that.”
So, we reluctantly fumbled around and somehow managed to go to sleep.
…I need to return quickly before I become insomniac.
I thought something was heavy when I woke up, and Kadomi-kun and Hariu were on me.
…It’s usual for Hariu, but Kadomi-kun too?
Upon closer inspection, Suzumoto was also curled up next to them. Wow, that’s rare.
“It’s a bit heavy, so could you move over?”
I got Kadomi-kun and Hariu to move and went outside, where President was already awake, making and drinking something.
“Morning. What are you doing?”
“Good morning. I’ve been endlessly making and drinking something poisonous or medicinal, but it has no effect whatsoever.”
Looking closer, he seemed to be in poor condition.
“I feel like it’s getting worse, actually.”
Yeah, I think it’s better to stop.
President’s eyes were glazed over, which was a bit scary. Is he that curious? About cat ears.
Indeed, the ears seem to hear well, and the tail feels strange.
“By the way, where is Maito-san? Still?”
“Ketorami won’t let her go.”
Curious, I went to see, and I saw the Ketorami firmly wrapping Maito-san with its tail and not letting go.
“Ketorami! Let gooooo! I need to make breakfast!”
I couldn’t hear what Ketorami was saying, but it seemed to have taken a liking to Maito-san with cat ears.
Hmm, maybe a sense of closeness because of the ears? No, just guessing.
Breakfast was bread.
Oh, not cat food. I was hoping for cat food, and I was a bit disappointed.
No, I prefer bread, so I’m happy.
“We need to… return soon, or it’ll be bad.”
Suzumoto seemed low in spirits. Are you okay? You don’t look emaciated, do you?
“Let’s go there once more. This time, without stepping on a cat…”
“I’m sorry.”
Hariu looked dejected. Well, I think it’s okay not to worry too much.
“Then, let’s capture it without causing any harm. Maito-san, please make a bag with soft cloth or something.”
“If this is okay, I have one ready.”
Apparently, there was a bag ready.
Alright, then, can we depart with this?
“Let’s use this as bait.”
Saying so, President put on the gas mask from the other day before taking out something from somewhere.
“It’s a branch and leaves of catnip.”
The moment he said that, we were all shocked!
“…”
Silently, Kadomi-kun was drawn towards it, so I grabbed him by the collar to stop him.
“What is this?”
Hagasaki-kun sat down holding his head. Ah, that’s the pose of escaping reality.
“Boss, boss, give me that, please.”
“Give me that.”
“President, I love you.”
“I love you. President, I love you.”
Hariu and Maito-san, with dreamy faces, were drawn to President.
It smells like a crime scene!
“Wow, everyone’s having a tough time, huh?”
Katori was wearing something like a full-face helmet to get through it.
Maybe it would be better to lend that to Maito-san?
“Uuuuooaaaaa!”
Then, suddenly, Kariya… I thought Kariya had let out a roar, but he just attacked Suzumoto, who was nearby.
“Sloppy.”
And he was subdued with the sheath of a sword.
“Is Suzumoto okay?”
Watching this scene, I wondered if Suzumoto was alright.
“Not okay at all.”
Ah, he was not okay.
He was enduring by stabbing a short sword into his own arm. As expected of a samurai! Cool, isn’t it!
“Toriumi?”
“Hm? I’m fine. Look, I haven’t been exposed to the cat transformation smoke much.”
Maybe I just have a body type that’s less affected by catnip?
My family is also pretty strong with alcohol and such.
“So, I’ll say it again, we will use this as bait to lure them.”
Katori brought a lot of spare helmets, so everyone came back to their senses.
“Oh, what have I…”
“Wha, what was I…”
Hariu and Maito-san were holding their heads.
Rolling around saying they love President, right?
Yeah, it was quite funny.
“Put this in a bag, and set up a mechanism like this at the opening of the bag.”
Saying that, President showed us a diagram.
Hmm. It seems like a mechanism where the opening closes when something enters and moves around inside.
“Once captured, Maito-san, please sing a ‘lullaby’ to put them to sleep. Then, let’s collect and examine it.”
By the way, we all wore full-face helmets during this time.
Man, we look like a super suspicious group.
Then, we went out to the highlands, all of us straining our cat ears to distinguish the voices of cat-like things and searching for the gathering place of those cat-like entities.
“Ah, there they are.”
“Now is the time to catch those detestable bastards.”
We set up the bags near them and observed from a distance.
“Ah, it went in.”
Interestingly enough, they kept entering the bag one after another.
Truly, the power of catnip.
“I’ll go collect them.”
Then, one by one, the cat-like somethings were caught and collected, to be examined by President.
And sometimes, they exploded.
The result.
“It’s done.”
President managed to do it in a few hours.
“A medicine that grows cat ears and tails.”
…That way!?
And then, after lunch, a few more hours later.
“It’s done.”
Yes, this time for sure, right?
“It’s a medicine that makes cat ears and tails disappear.”
President, now without cat ears or a tail, announced this.
A cheer and applause broke out.
…However, President dampened the mood by saying something unbelievable.
“However, due to the constraints on materials, there are only enough doses for 7 more people.”
…I could feel the madness in President’s words!
“…How do we decide?”
Well, if it came down to that, it would suddenly become very motivating.
“How about using the total scores from 10 rounds of Daifugล?”
“I’ll be the dealer, so how about Blackjack? We have plenty of ‘Aozora no Tane’ to use as chips.”
“Eh, I don’t know the rules for that.”
“Then let’s do Texas Hold’em.”
“Don’t know it.”
“Don’t know it.”
“I don’t know.”
“Let’s just stick with Daifugล…”
In the end, the one sentenced to another day of cat ears & tail was Kariya.
“Your cat ears are cute.”
“Really cute.”
“Please stop this already.”
Well, there’s that saying, schadenfreude, where as soon as you’re not the unfortunate one, everyone goes to tease the unlucky person. Business as usual, business as usual.
Afterwards, during the rest of the week of enjoying the alternate world, this cat ear inducing medicine ended up being used for penalty games.
Man, it was fun.