Ch.52Chapter 52

A black cat.

When I lifted my head up, I couldn’t see it well, but I could feel the soft touch. Playing with the triangular ears felt nice and squishy.

I looked up and touched them. The Professor, who had been peeking at me from behind, grabbed the tail near my bottom and showed it to me.

“It’s Ourr’s tail.”

The Professor waved the black tail in front of my eyes. After staring at it quietly, I gently took it from the Professor and held it tight.

It was fluffy. When I squeezed it, it felt just as soft. The good thing was that I could feel the sensation of the ears without having to lift my hands. Though this was much thicker and softer.

I held the middle part and wiggled it. When I showed it to the Professor and Sera, Sera nodded with satisfaction.

“It really suits you well. T-shirts and Dolphin Shorts are nice too, but I thought having pajamas like this would be good…”

I quietly looked at Sera with her peculiar way of speaking, as if she was talking to me but actually addressing the Professor.

Sera glanced at the Professor for her opinion, and the Professor nodded.

“It definitely suits Ourr well. Thank you.”

“Hehe, I’m glad, Ourr.”

“Mmm.”

Sera smiled at the Professor’s thanks.

“So, would it be okay if I wore mine too…? I just want to take a picture with Ourr and then go.”

“Well… since you gave us a gift.”

Being a third-year student, she seemed comfortable enough to suggest wearing pajamas in front of the Professor.

I wasn’t sure if that would be okay no matter how comfortable she was. But since our Professor nodded, I guess it was fine?

“Thank you!”

Sera exclaimed and quickly left the lab with what she called her pajamas.

After Sera left, the Professor glanced at me and patted my head.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes, I love it.”

I nodded while holding the tail. The Professor gave me a gentle smile.

I sat in the chair and waited quietly. Sera opened the lab door and made her presence known.

Gray mouse pajamas. Sera put down her black uniform and pulled up the hood. Unlike mine, hers had slightly round and flat ears.

Sera put her hands on her ears with a “ta-da” effect. When she tapped them, it caught my attention.

“A set with Ourr. Super cute, right?”

“Oh… but why is Sera a mouse?”

“Well, because Ourr is a cat, of course!”

Sera gave me a look as if I’d asked something obvious.

“If we had all different animals, it would be like a zoo, but this way there’s a concept, you know?”

“Concept…?”

“By the way, did you hear that Aria and Karen also said they’d be mice?”

“I think I… heard that…”

Me as a cat and everyone else as mice. It felt strange somehow.

Sera clapped her hands to change the mood. She grabbed my arm as I sat in the chair and pulled me to where she was.

I made a sound like “uh” but relaxed and let Sera take control. Being embraced while wearing animal pajamas, Sera nodded and said, “Good.” Suddenly, Sera was holding her phone up high.

I fixed my eyes on the selfie mode. I stared blankly. Sera adjusted her position to get a good shot with me and gently pressed her face against mine.

“Do we have to go this far?”

The good thing was that we weren’t touching bare skin thanks to the hoods. Still, taking a picture with our faces pressed together felt strange.

“This is how we get super cute photos.”

Click.

Sera nodded, saying it was good no matter what. With the shutter sound, one photo was saved.

She fiddled with her phone and showed me the first picture.

“What do you think?”

I looked at Sera’s phone quietly and then held it out to the Professor who was sitting and watching.

“Professor! Look at this! What do you think?”

“It came out cute. It suits you, suits you.”

The Professor nodded.

I was satisfied, and the Professor liked it too, so it was a moment of great satisfaction.

I smiled and hummed. Sera reached out her hand as if asking for her phone back, so I returned it.

Holding her phone, Sera gestured to me again and pointed the lens. The atmosphere suggested she wanted to take more pictures.

“Taking more?”

“After overcoming my shyness to wear pajamas in front of the Professor, I need to get my money’s worth. Wouldn’t it be nice to take solo shots of Ourr and send them to the Professor?”

“That sounds good.”

Just as I was hesitating, I heard the Professor’s voice agreeing with Sera’s suggestion.

Since the Professor said it was okay, I nodded. Oh well. If both Sera and the Professor are fine with it, there’s no reason for me to make a fuss.

It’s not like I’ll wear out from taking a few pictures.

“Then let’s take them quickly. You have a lecture soon, right?”

“Right. It’ll be super easy if Ourr cooperates.”

Sera nodded repeatedly. Then she started giving me directions.

“Raise both arms! Like you’re going to eat something!”

“Like… this?”

I raised my hands stiffly like I was standing at attention. Sera shook her head.

“No, more like this.”

Sera imitated the pose I had made. She said this is how it’s done and bent her arms slightly. She said this was the detail, curling her fingers like claws and showing me.

I wondered if we really needed to go this far for a photo.

I thought it would just be pajama photos, but suddenly it turned into a concept photoshoot.

“Ourr is so cute!”

I didn’t realize the Professor was still there. Sera’s exclamation was so confident that for a moment I thought I was being silly.

When I turned my head slightly toward where the Professor was, the Professor was also clapping.

“Our Ourr is so cute.”

The sound of clapping from both sides gave me a strange feeling. It was an indescribable feeling.

I hadn’t really done anything special, but being praised felt weird. But being praised wasn’t so bad, so the corners of my mouth turned up slightly.

When I let out a small “heh” laugh, Sera pressed the shutter again.

The clicking sound continued.

She told me to stand and make a threatening expression, then to sit and make a thoughtful expression.

I tried to move my body in different ways and make various expressions.

But either my body wasn’t moving as I wanted, or my mixed feelings were showing through, because my stiff expression was clearly visible in the photos.

“Look at Ourr’s expression, Professor. Doesn’t she look like a shy child who can’t make expressions?”

“I know. Our Ourr seems a bit weak at this kind of thing.”

“I’m not a child. I can grow up too.”

While the Professor was giggling with Sera, I pouted and said that.

After taking several solo shots of me, I checked the time. It seemed like Sera would soon need to go to her afternoon lecture.

“Shouldn’t you be heading back soon?”

“Oh shoot, I lost track of time. Let’s plan for one more later… Professor, I’m really sorry, but could you take one picture for us?”

The Professor seemed surprised by Sera’s request, opening her eyes wide and looking at her.

I knew it was an awkward request, but Sera seemed to think she had gotten close enough to the Professor because of me to make such a request without hesitation.

The Professor, who had been staring blankly, gave a wry smile.

“Really. This is the first student who’s approached me so familiarly. I’m a professor, but you treat me almost like a friend’s mom.”

“Oh, that’s not it! If anything, Professor, you’re like an older sister~ You’re too young to be called a mom.”

Sera waved both hands as she said this.

The Professor chuckled and nodded. With quite a bright expression, the Professor took Sera’s phone.

“So? How should I take it?”

I was curious about that too. If she needed the Professor to take the picture, it must be a pose that’s difficult to capture in selfie mode, so I was interested in what kind of pose she was planning.

After hesitating slightly, Sera cleared her throat and then moved the desk chair aside. With a scraping sound, a small space was created, and Sera lay down slightly in that spot.

“When Ourr makes that ‘rawr’ pose like she’s going to eat something, please take the picture then.”

“Ah, like a cat catching a mouse?”

“Yes, exactly that!”

As Sera’s eyes sparkled, the Professor nodded in understanding. Then the Professor’s gaze turned to me.

It was a look that said, “Let’s take one and be done.” Since that look came from Sera too, my body froze.

“Huh?” I stood there blankly for a moment, then looked down at Sera lying there.

I was slightly confused about what this taller person was doing below me. It took incredible courage to do this in the Professor’s research lab just for a photo.

But since everyone was so enthusiastic, and I was somehow pleased by being called cute, I stepped forward willingly.

“R-rawr…”

“Kyaa— Ourr kitty!”

As I raised my hands and posed as if I was going to eat something, Sera gave her all to the performance, making a cute distorted expression.

And at the same time, click, the photo was taken.

“…That was amazing. Professor, I’ll definitely send this to you.”

“Great. Send it to Ourr, and I’ll get it from her.”

At the same time, it seemed like some kind of bond had formed between the Professor and Sera.