Until midnight, the gathering finally ended.

"Even if you can't get up tomorrow, it's okay to take the day off," the two ladies instructed their daughter.

After seeing off the elders, the three squeezed into the spacious backseat that could double as a small conference room.

The car slowly pulled away, heading toward "Shibuya Station," leaving the orange Tokyo Tower behind in the night.

After dropping Kiyono Lin off at her apartment, the two returned to "Shinbashi."

After washing up, Jiutiao Meijie, in a captivating pose, reclined on her bed and said to Dubian Che,

"Bring out the tool for turning into a cat."

"Just a moment... Okay."

The two faced each other, one on the bed and the other under it.

Three seconds later, Dubian Che said, "Imagine this: your soul leaves your body and appears anywhere within fifty meters."

"Soul?"

Dubian Che crawled onto the bed, sleeping on the left side, and covered himself with a blanket.

In the next moment, a white cat with emerald eyes like gems appeared on 'Dubian Che's' stomach.

"If I could physically turn into a cat, I would have used it as an escape trick for you long ago," explained Dubian Cat with his beautiful triangular mouth.

Jiutiao Meijie glanced at the seemingly sleeping 'Dubian Che,' then looked at the cat.

She lay down on the right side of the soft white bed, covered herself with the blanket, and closed her eyes.

After a little while, 'Jiutiao Meijie's' body relaxed, seemingly falling into a deep sleep, and simultaneously, a ragdoll cat materialized out of thin air on the blanket of 'Jiutiao Meijie's' abdomen.

Cats are pets, described with words like cute and adorable, but the first word that came to mind looking at this fluffy ragdoll cat was 'beautiful.'

Bewitching eyelines, round eyes, a back beautifully curved to perfection, velvet-like fur, a tail of just the right length, and an elegant posture—it indeed could be called the most beautiful amongst cats.

Jiutiao Cat lifted her soft paw to look at it, then glanced at her own body.

"Still pretty cute," she said.

"This ability is actually quite ordinary," Dubian Cat said, "it only allows the soul to turn into a cat, and you can't be more than fifty meters away from your body."

Jiutiao Cat put down her paw and looked at Dubian Cat.

The two cats stared at each other silently for a while, then both smiled at the same time, and Dubian Cat pounced.

Jiutiao Cat, with a light leap, gracefully avoided Dubian Cat's attack.

The two cats chased and frolicked around the bed, under it, on chairs, the dressing table, the bay window, and all over the bedroom.

Not until three in the morning did the two cats stop.

They curled up between the two human bodies, their cat faces touching each other.

"With cat's night vision and dexterity, could I fly into the sky if I turned into a bird?" Jiutiao Cat swished her tail, in a great mood.

"Perhaps," whispered Dubian Cat, "and then we can go watch the sea of clouds together."

"Okay."

The two sat quietly for a while, feeling the warmth of each other's body.

"Big sis, big sis~" Dubian Cat spoke softly, as if afraid of waking up the moon.

"What's up?" Jiutiao Cat also asked in a little girl's tone used for whispering.

"Can we go back now?"

"What for?"

The two were like children refusing to sleep, secretly chatting under the blankets.

"I want to sleep with big sis."

"Naughty cat... big sis needs to teach you a lesson."

"Okay."

The cats disappeared, and the people started to move.

◇

Dubian Che didn't sleep at all that night, getting up at five o'clock for his morning exercise.

Running is the simplest form of exercise—if you have a pair of shoes and a road to run on, you can run wherever you want.

He ran from Monday to Friday and went to a nearby swimming pool on weekends, swimming back and forth dozens of times in the 50-meter pool.

Starting from "Shinbashi," he jogged and gradually became familiar with the scenery on his way to "Shibuya Station."

Then, he ran southwest from "Shibuya Station," passing the "Suga Shrine" where he once argued with the old ladies, arriving back in "Shinano Town."

He bought breakfast for three teachers and an older schoolmate from a breakfast shop with only a service window.

At this early morning hour, the streets were eerily empty, the only inhabitants being diligent crows perched on rooftops, their glossy eyes scanning in all directions.

Dubian Che stood on a street that seemed almost like a ruin.

The street's overhead view was fragmented by telephone wires, and as the autumn deepened, the sky grew lonelier.

A plane drew a straight white line from east to west across the pale blue sky.

Dubian Che raised his left hand to check the time, 5:46.

"Sir, here's your milk and cheese-grilled ham sandwich..."

"Thank you."

"Thank you for coming! Have a nice day!"

Dubian Che carried breakfast for five back into the apartment, his longing for home fading away, replaced by the joy of looking forward to seeing them.

◇

On September 10th, Jiutiao Meijie didn't come to school.

"How's the progress on the costume design?" Kiyono Lin asked Dubian Che before the morning class meeting started.

"Yours is almost finished, here, take a look for yourself."

Kiyono Lin took Dubian Che's phone, opened his conversation with Ogawa Seimi, and zoomed in on the latest design draft.

Resting her chin in her hand, her eyes as clear as an autumn sky, she stared at the image, her adorable face reflecting a thoughtful expression.

"Change this part here, the neckline..."

"One moment." Dubian Che took the notebook with the 'The Most Beautiful Legs voice actress' poll, jotting down her suggestions.

Not only the two of them, but the whole class four was busy prepping for the Cultural Festival.

They decided to open a noodle shop, also selling fried rice and grilled sausages.

In the evening class meeting, with the class presidents presiding, they decided on staffing arrangements, shifts, and what attire to wear to greet customers.

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