Chapter 426: A Traitor At Home

Huh?

This is…

Hikari?

Yes! No question about it!

That animal’s voice—Himekoji could recognize it after hearing it just once.

So, Hikari followed here?

It seems like… he hid inside the lunchbox…

And managed to go unnoticed the entire day!

He hurriedly stood up, wanting to peek into the trash can for confirmation.

But the sudden movement seemed to startle Yukinoshita.

“Cough, cough.”

Her face flushed. Her little hand, just about to reach into the trash can, snatched back like she’d been shocked. She pretended to adjust her hair, then turned around, shooting Himekoji a very displeased glare.

It felt like annoyance at having a pleasant moment disturbed.

Himekoji suddenly remembered something—

Ah, right, he’d nearly forgotten.

Yukinoshita was a cat lover!

But, shouldn’t you choose better who you love?

Wake up quickly!

This cat is a pervert!

“Meow~~”

Just as Himekoji pondered these thoughts, Hikari climbed noisily out of the trash can.

His mouth held his makeshift little home.

Which was… the Heart-shaped Bento Box Himekoji had used to pack lunch earlier…

“Sho… be careful…”

Was he hearing right?

Such a soft, gentle, loving voice actually came from Yukinoshita’s mouth.

Hey!

Why does Hikari get that kind of tone?!

He’s just a cat!

And a perverted one at that!

Himekoji hadn’t known Yukinoshita for a short time either, yet he’d never seen her act this sweetly towards him… no, towards anyone else!

Damn it, it’s so unfair…

Was he somehow inferior to a cat?

Seeming worried Hikari might fall climbing down, Yukinoshita knelt down as a precaution, cupping her hands together to catch him.

“Meow~ Meow meow~~”

In fact, to communicate with Hikari, Yukinoshita even adorably mimicked cat language.

Quite skilled with foreign tongues indeed, Miss Yukinoshita.

Too bad Hikari had zero interest in females of different species. He didn’t even give her a glance, performing a graceful leap on his own, landing smoothly and coolly on the floor.

As the one completely ignored, Yukinoshita felt awkward. She finally seemed to remember others were present, blushing and glancing back quickly at the members of the Service Club.

In that instant, Himekoji and Hikigaya wisely looked out the window at the same time.

“Ah, the sun’s almost setting.”

“So beautiful, the sunset.”

Thus, by playing dumb, they dodged the danger and avoided getting silenced by Yukinoshita.

“Huh? Yukino-chan, you like cats?”

Emmmmm…

And as for that dense Yuigahama?

Good luck to her.

…

Currently, only the Cat King, Hikari, remained completely unfazed in the Service Club.

The troublemaker casually tossed the lunchbox aside, rubbed his eyes, yawned loudly, then tumbled his lazy, increasingly chubby body right back into his makeshift home. Soon, loud purring sounds filled the room.

Himekoji seemed to finally get it…

Why Hikari was here.

So, when he asked this animal to help pack the bento this morning, the lazy creature must have crawled inside the box to nap?

Slept until now?

And wasn’t even done?

Planning to keep sleeping?

But if it’s just sleeping, why did it have to…

“Pervert-kun!”

As feared, trouble arrived right on cue.

The Cat-Loving Leader, Miss Yukinoshita, had indeed come to demand answers.

“You truly keep redefining what I think is possible about you!”

“Yeah, Akito, being a Pervert yourself is bad enough, but why involve a cat too?”

Even Yuigahama sided with Yukinoshita.

Hikigaya didn’t say anything, but distanced himself from Himekoji with a look of disgust.

“W-Wait… things aren’t how you think. Hikari himself is the one who…”

“Hah?”

Yukinoshita couldn’t stand it and cut him off mid-sentence.

“Are you actually trying to tell me underwear—or whatever that is—was put on by the cat itself?”

She crossed her arms, her slender fingers tapping impatiently on her elbow. Her voice was icy and full of interrogation.

“I-I realize it might be hard to believe… but that really is what hap…”

Himekoji explained desperately, his head bowed.

One pair of underwear on the head, two on the body—this outfit had become Hikari’s everyday wear.

If anyone tried to take them off, he’d get furious.

What could Himekoji possibly do?

Himekoji had no choice either…

“Wait, this recorder and indoor shoes?”

At first, Yukinoshita didn’t notice, but now she looked closely into the Lunchbox and immediately spotted something even more shocking. Her pretty, delicate eyebrows knitted even tighter.

“Huh?”

Hearing that, Himekoji’s heart did a flip. Sensing something bad, he quickly looked into Hikari’s temporary home.

The sight was astounding.

My goodness…

How did that beast bring his whole illegal collection packed into a Lunchbox?!

Indoor shoes were tucked under its head, a recorder hugged in its arms, and a bra used as an eye patch…

Geez, your bedding setup is all here???

Nothing missing?

“No! Yukinoshita, listen to me, it’s not what you think! It’s not like that!”

“Are these indoor shoes and recorder the ones I lost before?”

Yukinoshita didn’t want to hear Himekoji’s excuses. She just wanted a clear answer from him.

“No, of course not! Ha, haha, didn’t I tell you ages ago? I definitely didn’t steal your recorder…”

As he spoke, Himekoji grew uneasy himself, scratching his head and forcing a laugh.

“If it’s not the recorder, then it’s the indoor shoes?”

“The indoor shoes…”

Yukinoshita’s fierce gaze swept over him. Himekoji didn’t even have the courage to meet her eyes, turning his head away shamefully.

“The ones you lost… not all of them were stolen by— I mean, not all of them were borrowed by me?”

“Not all?”

“Yeah, I only borrowed a couple! Just a few, I swear!”

Himekoji pledged earnestly, almost ready to take a deadly vow.

“But last year alone, I lost seventeen pairs!”

Seventeen pairs?!

That many?

Without even realizing it, he had hidden seventeen pairs of Yukinoshita’s indoor shoes at home?

Himekoji, who hadn’t really paid attention to this, was genuinely startled by the number.

Of course, scared as he was, he absolutely wouldn’t confess.

Because many of those pairs were stolen by the System and thrown into a reward pool for him…

Himekoji never wanted such lousy rewards!

Anyway, best to downplay the number and shift some blame elsewhere.

“Uh, the rest were probably taken by, you know, someone in the same… business…”

Himekoji mumbled evasively on the topic.

He didn’t want to dwell on it, worried he’d spill everything.

“Meow~”

Luckily, Hikari, who was sound asleep, chose that moment to roll over, capturing Yukinoshita’s remaining attention.

Yukinoshita promptly ignored Himekoji and carefully crouched beside Hikari.

Afraid her footsteps might disturb Hikari’s sweet dream, she tiptoed silently as she got closer.

This Yukinoshita, eyes only on the cat, thinking only about the cat the whole time, was unexpectedly a bit adorably silly – cute in a whole different way.

“It… it…”

Yukinoshita pointed at the happily sleeping Hikari and softly asked Himekoji.

“Oh, he’s a male.”

“Who asked that? I meant, what’s its name?”

“Hikari. It’s Hikari.”

Himekoji answered respectfully, replying to every query.

After all, he’d been caught red-handed with her stolen stuff. He was feeling guilty!

“Hikari? Hikari, Hikari…”

It seemed quite catchy; Yukinoshita repeated it several times.

However, he’d never seen Yukinoshita care so much about remembering a name before.

Come to think of it, after knowing Yukinoshita for so long, had she ever called him by his name?

Better check, just to be sure—

“By the way, Yukinoshita, do you know my name?”

“Pervert-kun?”

“That’s not my name!”

“Oh, you mean your name? Hi… Hi…”

“Himekoji,” Yuigahama prompted from the side.

“Oh, so that’s your name.”

Yukinoshita wore an expression like “Who knew you had such a proper name.”

But she quickly shook her head, unconcerned.

“But it’s not necessary to remember, right? Doesn’t matter if I remember or not.”

It matters!

It hugely matters!

Please think about how I feel!

Deeply depressed, Himekoji felt his throat tighten. Puffing out his cheeks, he grabbed a Teacup nearby and gulped down a few big swallows.

Then, as he set the cup back down, he suddenly noticed something…

He saw small, neat, delicate characters carved on the handle of the Teacup:

“Himekoji.”

He remembered that to mark ownership, Yukinoshita had personally carved the name of everyone in the Service Club onto their teacups.

Seriously…

She definitely knew his name.

Could Yukinoshita be this tsundere?

Surprisingly, it was a little cute.

“Pfft.”

Himekoji couldn’t hold back a laugh.

…