episode_0279

After class, during break time, Rain Shine and I headed to the hallway where the first grade classrooms were.

“Ugh…”

Rain, who had not yet woken up, leaned next to me and looked around with a half-asleep look.

As it was usually a time when she should have been deeply asleep, she was still wide awake.

“Rain properly.”

“Ugh…”

Rain, who was leaning against the wall with a staggering, weary gait, yawned heavily.

“Hey. Shine. Is this really okay?”

“Yeah. It won’t be a problem.”

Shine’s confident answer.

I swallowed hard and began to look around the first grade classroom.

I just stuck my head out and looked inside.

Prin was nodding off, sitting on a sunny desk.

As expected, he was doing something he didn’t usually do.

I wonder what Fran is doing.

Turning my gaze to the side, I looked at Fran, who was looking at my older sister with anxious eyes.

As expected, he seemed to find Prince’s behavior strange.

Prin, who had been dozing off in the sunlight, suddenly got up from her seat in surprise.

Then, he began to stretch, yawning heavily and stretching his body like a cat.

The moment I thought that Prin’s gaze, which had been smiling pleasantly in the sunlight, met mine, her body suddenly rose up and she began to run toward the door, stepping on the desk.

At a very fast pace.

The sight of him jumping from desk to desk, bouncing, bouncing, looked like a black cat.

In the blink of an eye, Prin approached me, sat down quietly, and approached me with his luggage on his back.

All the first-year students’ eyes turned towards her elegant movements that moved stealthily without making a single sound.

Needless to say, Fran’s gaze is amazing.

“Senior. Are you looking for me?”

Prince asks me a question.

She smiled happily and came closer to me, rubbing her body against mine.

I stopped her sudden action and took a step back.

I was just trying to watch, but I got caught.

A cold sweat runs down my back.

I didn’t know how to deal with Prin, who was acting different than usual.

Shine looked at Prin as he approached her and stroked her head.

It’s like petting a cat.

I gaped at Shine’s appearance.

She was treating Prince like a cat.

I’m talking about cats, not people.

I noticed Fran walking towards me from inside the classroom and said to her.

“P, Prin.”

“Huh?”

“Wait a minute. Can you give me a minute?”

Prin nodded in response to my words.

“Of course. I am your senior’s cat. I can give you my time whenever you want.”

Prin answered with a happy smile, glanced in the direction I was looking, then ran into the classroom and approached Fran.

Fran looked bewildered by Prin’s sudden approach, but when Prin whispered something, she nodded and returned to her seat.

After sending Fran back, Prin came over like a cat and started rubbing her body against mine.

Actions that do not give off a sense of distance.

It was clear that Prin’s actions, which showed deep affection for me, were actions caused by Shine.

I let out a small sigh and led Prince to a deserted place.

At the end of the hallway, in a small corner.

It was characterized by a large flower pot blocking the view inside.

Here, you can talk to Prince with peace of mind.

After confirming that no one else was coming, I turned my gaze to Shine.

Shine nodded at my signal.

It’s time to begin the interrogation.

“Princess.”

“Huh?”

“I have some questions for you.”

“Please do as much as you can.”

To Shine’s question, Prin nodded with a slight smile.

I felt willing to answer anything she asked.

“Okay. Then can you tell me why you approached us?”

Shine asked some pretty sharp questions from the start.

When asked that question, Prin tilted his head, then slowly opened his mouth to answer.

“I approached you to become friends.”

“Is that really all?”

“Yes. Is that true? For now.”

“For now?”

“It means that I have not been ordered to become friends with you yet.”

command.

A prince takes orders from someone and acts accordingly.

At Prin’s answer, Rain, who had been dozing off, opened his eyes wide and began to concentrate on the story.

“You act on orders? Fran?”

“Yes. Both of them. Senior Shine, Senior Jeff, and Senior Rain, right?”

Prince speaks as if he knows our true identities.

At her words, Lane’s expression becomes serious.

“Do you know what we’re doing?”

“The doctor didn’t tell me exactly, but I can guess. People who are interfering with our work?”

“Doctor? Doctor, who are you talking about?”

“I don’t know your name. I just called you Doctor. Always. We’ve been together since we opened our eyes.”

A torrent of information began to pour out of Prince’s mouth.

I immediately took out my notebook and wrote down everything she said.

“What on earth was Prin doing?”

“I did a lot of things according to the doctor’s orders. When I finished my work well, he bought me lots of delicious things.”

“Do you know where that doctor is?”

“I don’t know. We’ve only talked through video calls these days.”

As I was writing down the information in my notebook, I frowned at the vague memories that came to mind.

A nagging, irritating sensation that is barely recognizable.

doctor.

White gown.

glasses.

card.

match-

That moment.

Shine, who had been listening to Prince’s story, clapped her hands and caught everyone’s attention.

The atmosphere changes.

I shook my head and focused on Shine.

“Okay. Prin. So you’re saying that you were doing something under orders from someone called the Doctor?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t even know the doctor’s name or where he lives?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Why were you following that doctor’s orders?”

“Why… Well… Of course?”

As if asking why, Prin frowned and took a step back.

Rejection.

What came into Prin’s eyes was a clear rejection.

Shine seemed to have noticed it too, as she moved closer to Prince and spoke.

“Of course? Why is that obvious?”

“That’s… That…”

Prince began to roll his eyes without answering.

A gaze that has lost its way floats through the air.

“Prin. You are our cat. You know that, right?”

“Yes, yes…”

“Okay. Meow.”

“Hey, meow~”

At Shine’s words, Prin made cat-like sounds and smiled cutely.

“That’s right. You’re our cat. You don’t have to listen to that doctor’s orders.”

“Ha, but.”

“Princess.”

“Uh, yeah…”

Prince looked confused at Shine’s words and grabbed his head.

“Not yet, not yet, but…”

“Prin. You just have to listen to us. Got it?”

“I, I have to listen to what the doctor says…”

“No. The one listening to that doctor was a human prince. What are you now?”

“I, I, I. I… well. a cat. a cat.”

A confused Prini nodded and began to mutter in a small voice.

Cat cat. I am a cat.

Shine whispered a soft voice in Prince’s ear, as if to drive a wedge into his reaction.

“That’s right. You’re a cat that imitates people. So you don’t need to listen to the doctor. You don’t even know my name? We’re not even close.”

“Ma, that’s right. I, I’m the seniors’ cat. I don’t need to listen to the doctor…”

“Good job. Keep thinking that way.”

Shine said, stroking Prin’s head as he muttered absentmindedly.

“Prin. Can you do one thing for us?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“You’re a cat, but you’re a cat that imitates people. So you’re good at acting, right? Then, just go about your daily life and bring us information about the doctor.”

“As usual?”

“Yeah. When we receive an order from the doctor, we first tell him what the order is. Then we do as he says. ”

“Yes. Yes. Okay!”

“Good job, Prince. Then, would you like to tell me everything you know?”

“About the doctor?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. First of all, the doctor is very fat. I don’t know what he usually eats so much, but his body smelled like sugar.”

“And?”

“Umm…”

It was certain that Prin was affiliated with the research institute, but there wasn’t much information that could be obtained from her.

The information I got from her was summarized as follows:

The fact that Prin and Fran have no parents

I have no memories of when I was very young.

I’ve been living in a research lab since I opened my eyes

The doctor has a very high position in that institute.

The recent terrorist incident involving a psychic was also said to be the work of Prin.

I tilted my head as I recorded the information.

Psychic abilities?

“Prin is a psychic?”

“Yes. That’s right. I have psychic abilities.”

I tilt my head again at Prince’s answer.

The psychic ability was a very powerful and terrifying ability.

At least that’s what I knew.

But looking at what Prin is showing now, something…

Yeah, it looked like there was a screw missing from his head.

“Jeff, don’t think too deeply about Prin’s abilities.”

“Yeah, why?”

“If I tell you not to do it, don’t do it.”

As I was holding the pen and pressing my forehead, Shine came over and whispered in my ear.

It was too much to just let it go, but I had to let it go since Shine said so.

I started editing the contents of the notebook.

Scratch, scratch, scratch – As she was editing the contents written on the notebook, Shine approached Rain.

“Rain.”

“Ugh, ugh!”

“You don’t think too deeply about this part like Jeff. Do you understand?”

“Oh, I see!”

“Okay.”

Shine sat Rain and me down next to each other and opened her mouth.

“Okay. Jeff. Lane. I’m going to ask you a question. You have to answer it well, okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Then let me ask you first. What abilities does Prin have?”

The abilities that Prince possesses.

of course.

“Without knowing!”

The body moves naturally.

A powerful answer and a raised hand.

therefore.

The ability that Prince has.

“I didn’t know!”

Rain also acted like me.

Neither of us knows Prin’s abilities.

Prince is just a cat.

“Okay. Maybe when Amy asks you, you’ll answer like that too. Got it? Today is just the day I got a cat.”

“Yeah!”

“Perfect!”

Shine was delighted to hear Rain and me answer.

I don’t know what it was, but since she was happy, I was happy too.

“Jeff. Wait a minute. I’ll make a safe and happy world for you.”

“Uh, uh.”

Shine smiled brightly and hugged Rain.

It was soft and warm.

Prin, who had become a perfect cat, returned to his classroom.

I thought about showing her back.

What kind of cat collar would be good?