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Chapter 5: Winterly Purr

Cats are complicated animals.

Sure, some of them are known to be adorable, others to be utter pests to deal with as pets, but the situation I was in roughly a few weeks after turning my house into a place of reunion for the three students which were 'led' by my Padawan was definitely... awkward. I couldn't exactly confirm how much of a relevant factor that turned out to be in taking me closer to canon considering that the girl in question wasn't exactly a certain silver-haired Nekoshou.

No, Koneko/Shirone had no reason to bother me as 1) she never saw me and 2) if she did, she would have no issue with anything about me to the point of investigating me. As of that point, Ise's smell was the same as others, same for his friends and the fact Ophis didn't exactly have a defining scent from what she mentioned during one of her visits when I inquired about that possibility.

So no, it wasn't the little sister. It was the Oneesan... and Kuroka surprised me. Not in a necessarily good way, but definitely far from the murdery way. It happened during Christmas time. I was enjoying a pleasant trip to the grocery store to pack my cupboards to the brim with shit I needed on the short-term but also stuff I wasn't going to be able once the holidays really started. Now, I had many bags filled with lots of stuff, I had put numerous layers of warm clothes on myself to keep myself comfy and I was soon on my merry way back home.

It was during that walk back there that I noticed a black cat had settled down by one of the corners of the road. Despite my first thought being 'that has to be Kuroka', I reasoned, with some logic behind that thought, that it could be just a coincidence that there was a black cat there and not Kuroka. Considering the current situation in the Timeline, I knew that the girl was on the run, trying to avoid getting caught from anyone with ties with the underworld and... that also meant trying to check on her Imouto. So, maybe this one was a cat. A normal one, one that was going to die if it didn't receive some proper help at once.

And I'm a terrible sucker for hurt animals. Call me a moron, but I valued this kind of critter a bit more than other individuals since they didn't get much of a choice when it comes to life. Life sucks, yes, but why the hell should I ignore that for no founded reasons? Also, I had a cat in the past, one that I had since I was a kid, and lost her because she got too old and prone to illnesses that eventually killed her. So, I took a moment to check the cat a bit closer. The feline spotted me, slightly tense and with its golden-eyed gaze exuding a form of defensiveness known for cats to have in these circumstances.

I was no Jackson Galaxy, but I still could handle that kind of situation with two simple advice for 'feline friendship': 1) not get too close and use a quiet voice to engage with the cat and 2) retrieving a small plate from one of my bags and fill it with some of the milk I bought. There was hesitation at the entire process, with the cat watching silently the whole ordeal and then... slowly getting tempted by the milk. Soon it was licking greedily from the plate. For a moment, I thought it would have had a bit of trouble since it was cold milk and that I should have tried to somehow have it warmed up but...

"Nyah~," The kitty replied in delight once it was done with that drinking session, instantly easing down and going for a soft headbutt of my soft-gloved hand. I returned the favor by scratching the top of its head, drawing loud purring from the small animal. I slowly removed the glove off my right hand as soon as I perceived something off with its temperature, something that was confirmed as soon as my naked palm touched the side of its head.

It was freezing. That could explain the brief shivers, but if it was this cold and barely shivering... that meant it was close to getting really sick. And that's where I found myself before a moral dilemma that- Oh well, I think I already spoiled how it went early on in this entry. I took the cat in, a process that the feline didn't complain about when I muttered of bringing it to a warmer place and then took off while having the kitty nuzzling onto my chin as I decided to keep her inside my warm jacket and right below my head. Very loving, but definitely all a ploy as I would discover the next day after I had taken care of the cat for a while and given her a nice small bed made with a pillow and a sheet by the couch.

The next morning began with a plan in mind: get my lawn cleaned up from the thin layer of snow that had formed in the path between the front door and the entrance. Then check the small greenhouse area I had built to preserve my little garden. Nothing too difficult or tiring, and definitely not a big chore that was meant to keep me that busy. Yet, as I had taken precaution for the activity, I had prepared some warm milk for my new pet for breakfast, I realized, just as I was done getting ready for the occasion and got out of the house with a shovel, that I had forgotten the house's keys in case the door suddenly closed on me.

So, I promptly walked back inside to retrieve the keys and... heard some noises coming from the living room. I carefully went to check, thinking it was just Azazel having come for a surprise visit to drop me some extra work and perhaps put me through the 'errand boy job' he told me he was planning to put me through eventually but... I was a bit stunned by what I found there.

"Hmm~?" A surprising feminine hum greeted me.

I blinked, a very naked Kuroka blinked back and I realized that considering the current timing and situation, it made sense she decided to ditch her clothes before going 'kitty' for a while. In fact, as I looked back at the current point of the timeline, she had just recently broken off from her former master, thus making her without loyalty and on the run from Hell for some unjust claims leveled against her.

"I can... explain," She muttered meekly, a far cry from the over-confident Nekoshou canon introduced her as and... it made sense.

After all, she had yet to find herself in a 'comfy situation' to get her cockiness back up. She was just a criminal on the run at this point, no affiliations with Ophis or anyone from Khaos Brigade. And I was surprised by the fact she just didn't murder me on the spot.

Did my act of kindness just save my bacon? Even now that I think back about it I'm not sure if that was the defining factor. I should have asked Kuroka a bit more about it...

"...Okay? Please explain."

A slow nod, a pinkish blush appearing on her face as she noticed an issue. "C-Can I get something to... cover up first?"

I blinked, having been so focused on looking at her face and barely at her boobs to prevent a quick death for ogling that I had forgotten she was completely naked. And I glanced down out of instinct and...

Yep, still as sexy as I expected.

The sight was just lovely, but not enough to stop me from actually nodding and getting some clothes to give her. Nothing feminine, or even any underwear to match her but... I had my own stuff. And she didn't mind having to deal with a lack of bra. In fact, she was just relieved she just got something to cover herself with and keep herself warm.

"T-Thank you," The Nekoshou hummed quietly, her cat-like ears twitching in relief. "And I owe you an explanation."

"That is the case, yes," I replied as I sat down by the couch. Not too close, but not too far. Just enough to not look ready to bolt away from her or feel like a creep.

What ensued was pretty much an explanation of what I already knew about her background. How she got taken in by a powerful master with her sister, how she became the strongest magic-user in that group and how she killed him in a power-hungry moment. And I used this circumstance to... pretty much get some straight truths out of her.

"So, you went cray-cray with power and are considered 'insane' by the Underworld."

"Yes..." Kuroka replied nervously, the topic being the furthest thing from nice.

"And you didn't do anything to your sister even though you went cray-cray because you wanted her to become stronger?"

...

"Why are we repeating these bits?" She asked with quite some unease.

"Well, considering that this sounds like a silly effort to cover-up something bigger, I'm sorry to say I don't believe much of this bit."

The young woman tensed up. "W-What? There's absolutely nothing wrong with that!"

"...Really?"

"R-Really what?"

"I mean, if you are insane, then how are we having this 'sane' conversation right now?"

"I..." She paused, her mouth shutting down as she thought about it. "I'm less... insane."

"Oh? How much less is that?"

"I, uh, 50%?"

"Kuroka-san, I'm not a dummy."

"I can tell as much," She joked a bit, my eyes narrowed at that. "Look, I got it, you don't believe me but... it's complicated."

"Then don't just tell me the complicated bit. Just admit that something else drove you to make that big of a mess."

"...Yes, there was something else," She admitted with a quiet tone. "That's all I'm willing to say in that regard."

...I just shrugged. "Yeah, that was what I was asking about. Still, there is a bit of an issue."

Her ears perked. "What about?"

"Well, I can't just let you leech off me. I just have enough to have a modest life. Since you're going to stay here and I have to also buy you new clothes to fill up your wardrobe, that means you would have to find a job too."

She nodded. "That's reasonable. You know, for a moment, I thought you were going to ask me to be your sex slave."

"...Was that within reason or you were just thinking of it as a kinky chance?"

She refused to elaborate on that, shifting back to another topic while still preserving a cheeky grin and red cheeks.

"Still, how do I find a job? I don't exactly have anything to fill up a resume- I didn't get the chance to go to school."

Fair point, but... not one that I didn't have a solution for.

"What if I had a means to procure you a job while also keeping you safe? No strings attached with that."

Kuroka's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

Azazel was softened by the 101 facts about why Cat-Girls are good and why hiring one or two would improve Grigori's standing. Plus, he looked mildly pleased to realize I had found Kuroka and got her to consider joining his group... mostly because he had made a bet with Baraqiel about her having killed her master and having gone 'Stray' for something else other than Senjutsu-triggered madness. One he knew he had won right now.

Still, Kuroka got hired and her job was obviously different from mine. She would be sent out of Kuoh Town to work with other agents, deal with some shit, get the money she got on a monthly basis dignified by troublesome long hours and... she got the opportunity of calling my house hers and get lap-pillow plus head-scratching privileges when back home from her trips.

We also came up with excuses to justify her presence in the house. To Issei and friends, Kuroka was a friend I made back in Tokyo-U while I was studying there for a few months and she asked to come live with me for the time being as she dealt with some difficult work situation that required her to have a stable place where to stay, something normal flats wouldn't allow her to.

She was quick to grow flirtatious around the boys and tease poor Reya in a sisterly manner. The brunette just started to see me in a brighter light due to how forward the dark-haired woman was. The only gripe the Nekoshou had with this disposition was that she would have to switch to a more human form, one without cat ears and tails. She really loved her feline traits.

And she sure loved to show them off with the pictures she took with her new phone. I would have imagined her switching to traditional outfits, like her canon yukata but... she decided to switch to comfier clothes that matched her current disposition. Sure, she loved to wear heavy clothes during the winter, uncaring of how unusual those felt on her, but once spring started and the temperature got higher, she saw it fit to switch up her style to something else.

Soon Kuroka was seen wearing a sleeveless dull-cyan shirt with a black sport bra under it, and a Turquoise-blue short skirt. She normally would wear short gray boots or sandals when going out.

Then, it came to a bigger issue: Ophis and how she saw Kuroka during her visits. At first I thought there were two possible ways the girl was going to perceive the cat-girl. Either she was chill with her presence or she would make it an issue. What came out from the first visit and what would become standard behavior as soon as the Infinity Dragon got a clear grasp of what was up could be defined as 'passive domination'. Instead of saying anything to Kuroka or doing anything to her, the chibi would just sit on my lap and 'remind me and Kuroka' that I was her friend first.

The message was clear, and, in a way, I was relieved it didn't go any worse than that but... it also highlighted something I didn't think much of early on. Ophis sure liked to get close and comfy around me, and be quite possessive when that comfiness was threatened. Knowing how very possessive she was of her original home, there was no doubt in mind that being her friend meant having to deal with her bouts of genuine fear about losing said friend.

Kuroka was fine with it, especially since what she lost was some head scratching she would end up recovering later that night. Yes, I got nightly visits from the catgirl and, I know what you would think- why the hell isn't she just asking for sex if that was the case? And the answer if fairly awkward: no sex had happened yet but... some activities did happen. Some interesting ones if I have to say.

But that's a story for another time, I'm afraid.

AN

Next time, some kinky stuff. Nothing extreme, but Kuroka got warmed up enough to get some interesting tango started. Obviously this isn't going to get 'too far' in some regard.

REVIEW Q&A!

HiragaSaito16: He is working for Grigori, but early on it was all about paperwork. As mentioned in this chapter, he will be turned in an Errand Boy at times, and he will end up getting stuff or meeting interesting people during his trips.

Guest-Questioner: I think the old man has been arrested already. It was mentioned by Issei in canon that the guy got caught by the Police and he never saw him again. So, he is either still in jail, or he is out of Kuoh and avoiding the police. Also, I doubt it was Odin myself, I think that Odin would have done this a bit smoother than that.